Loki's Failure
by LRCrowley
Summary: Set after the events of the Avengers. Loki is kidnapped from his cell in Asgard by a much more dangerous captor, seeking revenge on Loki for what he failed to do. Contains Loki whump, possibly some noncon later on and plenty 'o violence.
1. Chapter 1

The imprisonment could last for anything up to one thousand years, they said. As he was technically still a man of royal descent, he was allowed a reasonably comfortable cell in Odin's palace. Nonetheless Loki was filled with indignant rage at the thought of his present situation, not to mention completely humiliated at being captured by the Avengers. He spent day after day lying on his bed, cursing the bands of metal he wore on his wrists that contained his magic and prevented him from escaping. None of his so-called family members had visited him since he had returned from Midgard, shackled and muzzled, and all he knew was he was due to be tried by the Asgardian court in the near future. _At least they're not being vague about it, _Loki thought wryly to himself.

Days and weeks merged together and Loki thought he must be going insane at the monotony of his imprisonment. He had gone over his time on Earth so many times in his head he was sure he could recall every strand of hair on Black Widow's pretty head, every wound Captain America had after the battle, every grunt the Hulk made as he smashed Loki into the ground in Stark Tower. He had just about given up hope for any kind of future when something miraculous happened. Another man might have thanked Odin for the good fortune; Loki made a point not to.

He had woken up from the millionth sleep of his incarceration with the uneasy feeling that someone was watching him. Normally the guard who brought him food did not stay in the cell for long, but this felt different; it was lingering. _Perhaps the trial is soon?_ he thought to himself hopefully, but as he turned over to see the unknown presence he was utterly shocked.

Two toweringly tall creatures stood before him. They both had grey, mottled skin, with distorted features and layers of dark, hardy-looking armour. The most unsettling thing was the purple hue in their small, glaring eyes. They both wore snarls on their faces and clutched vicious-looking knives with serrated edges. Loki was speechless…almost.

"Can I help you?" he asked, fighting to keep the fear from his voice.

"You are the god they call 'Loki', are you not?" one of the creatures said in a deep voice.

"I am Loki, yes," he replied slowly.

"We have been sent here to release you from your captivity," the other creature said. Although the message was a positive one, his voice still dripped with menace.

"Who has sent you?" Loki asked warily, almost unwilling to believe his good fortune.

"We will release you on one condition," the first creature declared, ignoring Loki's question. Loki remained silent, hoping his reticence would give him the upper hand.

"We will take you away from this place on the condition that you retrieve something for our master," the second creature went on, "The Infinity Gauntlet."

"Who is your master?"

"That is the condition. Do you accept?"

Loki thought for a few seconds, weighing up the dangers of this in his head. He already knew his answer though as he was driven by his need for freedom and revenge.

"I cannot help you without my magi-" he began, but as he spoke the metal bands around his wrists fell to the floor with a metallic clatter. "How did you do that?"

"We have access to a powerful magic, God of Lies," one of the creatures said accusingly.

Loki allowed his suspicions to ebb away as he felt a surge of power in his body; his magic was returning…

"Take us to the gauntlet," said one of the creatures as Loki flexed his fingers that were coursing with power.

Loki smiled a wicked smile and with a mischievous wink, he disappeared from his cell, teleporting himself to the location of the Infinity Gauntlet. A new plan was forming anew in his mind; if these beasts were so desperate for the object, they would surely pay dearly for it and he would exploit them for all the power he could get in order to seek revenge on those who thwarted him. He picked up the Gauntlet with ease and chuckled to himself.

Suddenly there were two great hands on his shoulders, digging in painfully. He whipped his head round to see who had found him. It was the two creatures from his cell. He was about to demand how they found him but he was interrupted.

"Thank you for leading us to the Infinity Object. We just needed you to claim it from the Asgardians so we could, in turn, claim it from you. Our Master will be pleased," one of the beasts said seriously, though Loki could see a malicious glee in his eyes.

"Do not try to escape, for we will see you at all times," the other creature told the speechless Loki.

Before Loki could ask the questions that were forming in his mind, he was struck to the floor by a great grey fist. He was about to try and teleport himself away, when he felt a burning pain on his arm. As he was lying sprawled on his stomach, he had to twist his head round to see what was causing the pain. One of the creatures was wrapping what looked like a length of thick black leather around one of his wrists, however it made his skin burn and seemed to tighten by itself. Loki felt his magic drain from his being and he realised this must be a cursed material, not only binding his wrists but also his power. He tried to struggle as the creature finished tying the leather around his wrists, restraining them painfully behind his back, but the burning pain it caused was too much to fight.

The cursed leather seemed to be growing in length as the creature started binding Loki's whole torso, winding down his legs to tie his ankles also. He screamed from the pain of his enchanted restraints and the creature hauled him to his feet with ease and secured another piece of the leather around his mouth. It seemed to grow and mould over his mouth and around his head, gagging him and silencing his anguish. The other creature held onto the Infinity Gauntlet as the one who had bound Loki picked him up and draped him over his shoulder.

"Now we take our spoils to our Master," one of the creatures said and a great light enveloped the three of them.

When the blinding light had faded they were not in the vault of Asgard any longer; they were in a cavernous hall, entirely black and almost gleaming. Loki could feel the danger envelop him as he dreaded to think who 'Master' could possibly be. The creature who was carrying him began striding across the hall, before stopping and abruptly throwing Loki to the floor and forcing him into a kneeling position. He looked up slowly and saw a throne carved from the same dark, shining material as the walls, floor and ceiling. It was a menacing sight, but it did not concern Loki. He was more frightened of who was in the throne.

Thanos glared down at him from the throne with hatred in his eyes.

"Our guest on honour has arrived. Behold the powerful _god_ Loki. You failed to bring me the Tesseract, Loki. Prepare to suffer for your failure."

The terrifying Titan rose from his throne and began striding towards Loki who was helplessly kneeling at the feet of his captors.

He wished more than anything that he was still imprisoned in Asgard.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: Hope people are enjoying this story! I don't know very much about the comic book side of this mythology, only what I know from Norse tales and some Ancient Greek so I apologise if anything is glaringly wrong. The word 'Tiphus' (or ****Τ****ῖ****φυς****) is Ancient Greek for 'nightmare', and I hope the name fits the characters… enjoy, more to come soon! It won't be over for Loki any time soon, he has a lot more to endure, but maybe a certain blonde God might make his presence known at some point… **

Loki had never seen Thanos before; he had only heard the tales of his destruction. He worshipped Death and easily and without hesitation massacred anyone in his path. Now the powerful Titan stood over him, smiling maliciously.

"The Chitauri promised you pain beyond anything you had ever experienced if you failed them. You will find them to be merciful beings compared to what I have planned for you, Loki," Thanos' threat dripped with evil, the rumble of his deep, rasping voice causing the hairs on the back of Loki's neck to stand on end. He could feel his body trembling.

"Your guards will be the Tiphus," Thanos continued, gesturing to the monstrous creatures who had captured Loki, "They are creatures I created. Creatures of nightmare."

The God of Mischief had never felt this way before. Only a short time ago he had felt as if he had the chance to rule all of Midgard, he had felt powerful, unstoppable even. He could remember how it felt commanding the humans to kneel before him. How it felt beating some of the Avengers to the ground at the height of his power. Even when he had been captured and forced to return to Asgard he had still felt powerful and envisioned his escape and return to glory.

But now every bit of confidence and authority had drained from him and all he knew was fear. He wished he could use his silver tongue to bargain or reason himself out of this situation; he could promise Thanos his utmost allegiance and help him in whatever plan he had in mind, but the leather over his mouth prevented him from uttering a word. His whole body seared with the pain of his cursed bindings.

Thanos leaned down so he was level with Loki's face, a mean feat considering his immense height, and grasped Loki's jaw hard.

"Your pain will never cease," he rasped as Loki tried his best to put some distance between his and Thanos' faces. Thanos stood up and spoke to his Tiphus, "Take him to his cell. Make sure he is fully stripped of all his worth. Leave the Infinity Gauntlet with me."

As soon as the words had left his mouth, a huge hand grabbed Loki's hair and the Tiphus it belonged to began dragging Loki from the great hall. He shut his eyes tight and screamed into the gag. He heard the laughter of Thanos growing quieter as he was dragged farther away. Loki knew why he laughed; the pain of being dragged by his hair was surely nothing compared to what he would have to face.

Loki continued to scream until he was unceremoniously pushed to the ground. He dared to open his eyes a little to see the Tiphus above him wielding a huge knife. He tried to push himself as far away as possible which was hard considering he was bound so thoroughly.

The Tiphus knelt down and brought the knife to Loki's throat. He held it there for a few seconds, seeming to take it the look of terror and silent pleading in Loki's eyes before he proceeded to grab chunks of Loki's hair and slash through it with the life. Loki watched in bewilderment as locks of his raven black hair fell to the floor. He felt a pang of gratitude that this was considered torture; he could live with his hair.

The Tiphus finished up once Loki's hair was considerably shorter. He then started cutting through Loki's bindings. The burning pain, which had become more of a dull ache as Loki had become accustomed to it, ebbed away and he sighed with the relief. The Tiphus began cutting through his clothes. They had not been particularly nice garments, however they were at least _his_ clothes from Asgard and he began to feel far too vulnerable.

With his bindings cut off, he had the urge to fight. He pushed against the Tiphus' strong arms and tried to kick it's legs from under it. He even tried to summon a spell to protect himself, however the cursed bindings had left his magic weak. The Tiphus said nothing, but quickly and smoothy slashed at Loki's chest with it's knife.

Loki gave a muffled gasp of shock as the long thin cut on his chest oozed blood. The Tiphus grabbed Loki's unprepared hands and wrapped a new length of the cursed leather around his wrists until they were tightly bound in front of him. It then pulled Loki to his feet by his tied hands and attached them to a hefty chain that hung to the ceiling of the small cell they were in.

Loki was forced to stand almost on the tips of his toes, and shirtless, helpless and bleeding as he was, he felt the all-consuming vulnerability of his predicament turn his bones to ice. He tried to make noises of protest to communicate with the Tiphus, to bargain a release in some way, but it merely bound his ankles with more leather, before leaving the cell and leaving Loki in complete darkness.

He didn't know if it was his cursed bindings or his surroundings, but Loki felt the heat drastically increase. It got so hot, he felt as though he were burning alive. The room was an oven. In the darkness, if he squinted hard enough, he was sure he could see his skin charring and turning to ash in front of him. He screamed and screamed until his throat was raw. He screamed for an escape that he was sure would never come.

He was left burning alive in that cell for five days. It felt like longer.

When several Tiphus entered to remove him, he was a shaking and sobbing mess. They took him down from the chain that was holding his weak body up and dragged him down a dark, endless corridor. Loki was then taken into a room that was shockingly white, so much so his eyes hurt having been plunged into darkness for so long.

The Tiphus dropped him in a heap on the floor and he curled up into a fetal position. As Loki glanced down at his naked torso, he saw no evidence of injury (apart from the long gash the Tiphus had carved into him) and it occurred to him that his burning alive might have been only inside his mind. As weak as he felt, he realised he could reach the leather on his mouth now and he began frantically clawing at it. If he could just _talk_ to the Tiphus, just for a moment, he might be able to deceive them into showing him mercy…

However as he was doing so, one of the Tiphus reached down and tore the gag off itself. Loki gasped in shock and drew many deep breaths, before he began speaking.

"Please, please let me go! I can help you to become leaders of any realm!" he cried desperately, "If it is gold or wealth you want, I can help, I am a prince of Asgard!"

He pleas were ignored as the Tiphus had their backs to him as they prepared something on the other side of the room out of Loki's eye line. He decided to take his chance for an escape and began silently crawling on his stomach towards the door of the white room. He was stopped all too soon as a great boot crashed down onto his back. He hissed in pain, a steady stream on the word "please" falling from his lips.

The Tiphus flipped his over so he was staring up at them and one presented Loki with some kind of chalice. Much to Loki's horror, it appeared to be carved out of a skull.

"Drink," one of the Tiphus commanded.

Not wanting to disobey and invite some kind of punishment, Loki snatched the skull chalice in his bound hands. As he looked at the contents, it appeared to be water, so he gulped it down hastily, greedily, not noticing the effects it was having. As soon as he had finished the drink, his skin started to itch and tingle. His body felt like it was covered in pins and needles and, as he gingerly touched his chest, he realised his skin had become ultra-sensitive. He stared up at the Tiphus in horror, knowing in his gut that this did not bode well.

One of the Tiphus wordlessly kneeled over Loki, a knife in its hand. Another Tiphus grabbed Loki's bound hands and pinned them above his head, while the other held down his ankles. Immobilised, he started to beg for mercy once more. The Tiphus with the knife gently dragged the knife over his collar bone.

The knife didn't even break his skin, but Loki felt as though it had ripped into him and torn his flesh away. All the Tiphus laughed as they observed their victim. The knife then sliced the skin of Loki's rib cage.

His screams echoed throughout the realm. Tears gushed from his eyes. Blood trickled from his mouth as he bit down on his tongue. Every second was agony and every second stretched on for an eternity. It felt as though he had been skinned alive, chewed up whole by a monstrous beast with jagged teeth, dragged through a field of broken glass, set on fire and watched as he burned.

The Tiphus only ceased their torture when Loki had passed out, drenched in sweat and blood and tears. They had used knives, hammers and white-hot pokers on him. He was dragged back to his dark cell and bound tightly once again, with cursed leather pulling his limbs into uncomfortable submission, covering his mouth and his eyes. When he woke up, he would know pain once more. They had only just begun.


	3. Chapter 3

After what seemed like a life time alone and burning in his cell, Loki was in the white room once more. He sat on a white chair, hands bound tightly to the arms and ankles to the legs. He stared with contempt at the single Tiphus who stood in front of him. Having felt so hopeless and scared for so long, in constant agony, Loki now felt a rage build within him; he remembered his power and vowed that if he ever escaped this place he would destroy all who tortured him.

"I won't break," he muttered under his breath. The Tiphus merely cocked his head at his captive, holding aloft a hammer and nail threateningly.

In the brightness of the white room Loki could see every detail of the creature's appearance. It certainly was a nightmarish being; the ugly grey skin was stretched over a misshapen skull, tiny pig-like eyes without a hint of emotion and a bulbous nose. It's mouth was wide and seemed jagged with many tiny sharp teeth poking from between the lips. It was repulsive. Feeling braver than he should, Loki spat at its feet from where he sat. The Tiphus did not flinch. It moved to Loki's side and held the nail up to his temple.

"Perhaps I will hammer this through your skull," The Tiphus growled, "Destroy your brain, remove the intelligence you value so highly."

Loki jerked his head away, despite his intentions to stay strong.

"Destroying my mind would render your torture pointless, you ugly runt," he snarled, "A brain dead fool would be no fun, surely?"

"You are correct, Loki. What about your eyes?" The Tiphus positioned the nail centimetres from Loki's right eyeball, bringing the hammer up behind it. He began to draw the hammer away, with the intent of smashing the nail straight into his eye socket.

Loki flinched back as far as he could and shut his eyes tight.

"Too easy. Shall I nail your tongue down inside your mouth so you can spin lies no more?" The monstrous creature muttered now forcing the nail into Loki's mouth, the tip digging painfully into his tongue.

Loki yelled and struggled, his eyes wide with fear. As much as he loathed to admit it, the Tiphus was right; Loki could do nothing without his speech. However, nor could he be of much use without his sight or his sharp mind… Fear blossomed anew within him. The Tiphus removed the nail and smirked down at Loki who now was trying to bury his head into his chest, the only thing he could do to protect it.

Wordlessly, the Tiphus moved the nail to the back of Loki's hand and brought the hammer crashing down onto its head. Loki howled with pain as he felt the delicate bones in his hand shatter. It was excruciating.

The Titus retrieved another nail and positioned it right next to the other nail in Loki's hand before hammering it in relentlessly. Blood gushed freely from Loki's mangled hand and he feared he would never be able to use it again if it was abused any more. Unfortunately the Tiphus understood this nightmare scenario and he hammered three more nails into the broken hand.

The amount of pain Loki was in caused him to fall into a strange dreamlike unconsciousness. He felt as though he were somewhere else.

_He could feel a staff gripped in his hand, and his feet dangled in space. He looked up and saw Thor holding the other end of the staff. The Allfather stood atop the rainbow bridge, holding Thor's foot and keeping the two brothers from falling into the abyss, a look of sadness on his face. Loki felt his lips move and heard the words he spoke._

"_I could have done it, Father! I could have done it! For you! For all of us!" he heard the anguish in his own voice and tears fell from his eyes. Suddenly all he felt was a consuming desire for acceptance from his father._

_When Odin spoke, Loki's heart shattered._

"_No, Loki."_

_The rejection caused him to lose all sense of purpose. Was there anything to live for, in a world where no one cared for him? He let go of the staff that was keeping him from falling into the darkness._

_All at once, the scene was playing out once more…_

"_I could have done it, Father! I could have done it! For you! For all of us!"_

_This time Odin stared down at him with contempt. He looked to his brother Thor and saw a look of hatred on his face._

"_You could never do anything," Odin spat out the words spitefully, "I never loved you. How could I when I already had the perfect son? You are nothing, boy, a reject of you own dying race and a reject of the place you call home. I wish I had left you to die that day in __Jötunheimr. I wish you were dead."_ _Loki felt only crippling anguish as this false memory replaced the real one. All those years of feeling inadequate and like an outsider were suddenly confirmed by his father's own words. He sobbed and let go of the staff, once more plunging into the abyss…_

Reality hit him hard and he felt the chair beneath him once more and he saw the white walls and the Tiphus towering over him. The pain in his hand came flooding back and he willed himself to look at the damage; at least ten nails stood out of the back of his hand, the whole thing awash with his own crimson blood. He sobbed out loud as he tried to flex his fingers and found no response.

"What have you done to me you beast?" he cried, staring wide eyed and incredulous at his torturer.

"I wouldn't worry too much about you injuries, Loki," the Tiphus stated, some hidden secret masked in his words.

He suddenly yanked several of the nails from Loki's poor hand, causing more blood to flow down his wrists and over the edge of the chair. He pulled all the nails out whilst Loki screamed. The loss of blood was making him feel faint and even weaker. As well as the physical pain he was feeling, his emotions were causing him to hurt inside. He had never felt so alone.

The Tiphus suddenly appeared with the same chalice made of a skull that Loki had seen before, however the liquid inside appeared red, as red as the blood dripping from Loki's hand. He tipped the contents onto Loki's ruined hand and Loki gasped as the liquid seemed to seep into his wounds rather than pour off the surface of his hand. He stared down in disbelief as the holes in his hand grew smaller as tiny bits of skin seemed to knit themselves together over the wounds. He tried flexing his fingers once more and was astonished to see them move at his command. His hand was still in pain, but a different kind of pain, stiff almost.

"What magic do you use, beast?" Loki asked incredulously.

"You think you know magic and you call yourself the God of Lies, yet you know nothing of power and true magic," was the reply. "You are nothing, Loki Laufeyson."

Loki flinched at the painful yet familiar words, reminded of his own insecurities and self-doubt. The Tiphus brought over a handful of nails, larger than the previous ones with slightly blunter points. He proceeded to hammer then into Loki's hand once more, the newly repaired hand. Loki's screams echoed in the white room once more. The torture went on for hours, the Tiphus continually hammering nails into his same hand, each set larger than before, before using the blood-red liquid to heal the wounds before he continued. Loki now knew the meaning of a vicious cycle.

He was barely conscious as the Tiphus dragged him back to his dark cell, trussing him up once more and leaving him helpless on the floor. Just before he felt the pull of sleep in his exhausted mind, Loki froze in fear as he saw a huge figure in the corner of the room. Thanos.

"I hope your stay so far has been agonising, Loki, son of Laufey. My Tiphus said that you scream so much, you might not have a voice once your first month is over," the evil Titan chuckled mirthfully.

Loki could do nothing but lie, paralysed by fear. Thanos gave off a terrible menace that seeped into Loki's pores, turning him inside out.

"I thought you would be interested to hear that I am going to use the Infinity Gauntlet you so kindly provided me to rip apart the Nine Realms, including Asgard," Thanos stated, his piercing eyes never leaving Loki's green ones, "Tell me, what did you do to anger your adoptive family so much? My spies tell me that the family of Odin take much joy in your disappearance. They hate you."

Loki cringed at the words, once more feeling a dejected pang of grief in his heart…he knew that he regretted his past actions now. He would have given every bit of his soul just to see his family once more and feel some scrap of love or acceptance.

"Anyway, I have come here to make sure you do not sleep, Loki. You sleep far too much and I do not allow my prisoners to sleep," Thanos growled, "Let's see how well you sleep tonight."

And with that, Thanos left the room, left Loki lying helplessly on the floor wondering what Thanos had meant.

Suddenly he felt something crawl over one of his bound legs. Several more creeping sensations scuttled over his limbs. He felt more and more _things_ on him until his body was teeming with living things. In the pitch black Loki could not make out what the things were, but in his mind's eye he pictured vicious and repellent insects all over his skin. The crawling sensations started to turn into gnawing and biting. Loki shrieked in horror into his gag; he was being eaten alive by these insects. Every inch of his skin was being torn off by minuscule yet razor sharp teeth. He couldn't make anything out in the darkness, but he swore when he looked down at his own shoulder he could see the bugs swarming over his eaten flesh. He screamed long into the night and Thanos certainly got his wish of preventing his prisoner from sleeping.

Thanos and the Tiphus watched Loki in his cell from another place. They saw him writhe on the floor, tormented by something that wasn't there. The insects, the pain, it was all in his head. They discussed how they would continue to destroy him, physically and also mentally. They laughed as they observed how Loki's own nightmares were torturing him into madness…

** Author's note: Hope you enjoyed that! It's hard to write the torture scenes as I am very squeamish myself, but I hope it's worthy of Thanos' evil standards. Reviews are more than welcome and the next part will be here quicker than you can say "Loki gets a surprise visit"…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note: Thanks for the nice comments, totally makes me write faster! This bit gets pretty dark for poor Loki. But hope may still come.**

** Read, enjoy, review :)**

Time moved slowly for Loki, amongst the Tiphus and the constant fear they induced. Loki could not remember the last time he slept; every night the torture continued when he was alone in his cell, in the most horrific ways, but when the Tiphus came to take him away each morning he could see no evidence of the physical injuries he had felt. It was driving him insane. He stopped screaming when the Tiphus came for him, he merely lay pliant like a rag doll, eyes blank.

He may have appeared to be a mere shell on the outside, but inside his mind was where the true agony was contained. Loki listed each and every wrong-doing he had committed; he lamented his mistakes and the people he had hurt, including those he had cast off as his family. Thor, Odin and his beloved mother Frigga, they had been his kin for so long and yet he had betrayed them and raged against them with such force… Could he blame them for turning their backs on him now? _I cannot, _he thought to himself with great sadness. _I deserve all of this._

The Tiphus came for him one day after he had spent a night believing the air had been sucked from his cell, suffocating him. When they yanked the door open and dragged Loki out, he gasped for breath but did not utter a scream. He did not protest his fate because he knew he would be taken to the white room again.

When the Tiphus dropped him on the floor of the white room he just lay there. When they ripped the gag from his mouth and poured liquid from a skull chalice he did not try to resist. However when the Tiphus exited the room and left him alone, his interest piqued. This had not happened before, they had never left the white room.

Loki took a moment to relax; normally any time he was alone, he was in a great deal of pain in his cell and any time he was in the white room, the Tiphus were torturing him. Yet now he could close his eyes and _enjoy_ a feeling of nothingness. He could think or sleep… or plot.

Just as he was beginning to feel like himself again, Loki's vision suddenly clouded and his head started to pound. Of course, this must be the result of the forced drink he had been given. He started to retch, though nothing came out due to his empty stomach. He cringed into the floor, holding back tears.

The door of the white room flung open and Loki didn't dare to look up at the approaching Tiphus. His break had been too good to be true yet he still wished with every fibre that he could just have a little more time free of agony. He shut his eyes and lay motionless on the floor.

"Loki!"

The voice made him look up. This could not be…

"Loki, are you alright?"

"Sif?" Loki whispered, his voice hoarse and raw. The word still tasted so sweet.

Sif was a vision of beauty, just as strong and radiant as Loki remembered, her jet black hair framing her fierce and glowing face. He hadn't smiled for so long, yet Loki beamed now. Sif immediately ran to his side and laid a hand on his pale and gaunt cheek.

"Shhhh, you are safe now Loki," she said sweetly, looking deep in Loki's eyes, "Thor has brought some of his friends from Midgard; we are defeating Thanos."

"I can't believe it," Loki wept with happiness, "I thought I would never leave this place…"

"I couldn't bear that," Sif whispered and gently leaned down to press her lips to Loki's. She kissed him softly but with such a passion. Weak though he was, Loki kissed back with everything he had; she tasted like freedom to him. He wished he weren't bound so he could run his hands through her hair and touch he skin. Was it as soft as he remembered? He thanked Odin that he would live to find out.

"Sif, you must untie me," Loki was excited to finally be free and wanted to waste no time in getting there.

"Of course, My Lord," Sif said with a wink, running her hands over his bindings.

However before she could take action, the door was once more opened. And Loki was once more stunned by who was walking through it.

Had Thor always been so tall, so powerful and intimidating in all his fine Asgardian armour? Loki's eyes welled up at the sight of this familiar figure.

"Thor," he breathed, smiling, "Brother."

However Thor did not react. He merely looked down at Loki, a fleeting glance, before looking at Sif.

"Sif, what are you doing in here? Celebrations have begun for our victory. Come back to Asgard with me," he commanded, his voice booming in the confines of the white room.

To Loki's shock, Sif left his side immediately and went to drape herself in Thor's mighty arms. Loki stared up appalled as Thor and Sif stared into each other's eyes before locking lips, with an intimacy that made Loki blush.

"Brother?" he called up meekly, unable to hide the hurt in his voice.

Thor broke apart from Sif who was staring adoringly up at him.

"I am no brother of _yours_," he spat with such malice that Loki recoiled from the words.

"P-please, brother, help me," Loki whispered.

"Why, in the name of all the nine realms, would I do that?" Thor said viciously, his words stinging Loki more than torture ever could.

"I am so, so sorry, Thor. I wish to make things right, for you and for Father. I am sorry," Loki apologised, putting everything he felt into his words, hoping that they would reach the caring side of Thor he _knew_ was there.

"You wish to make things right for Father and I?" Thor mocked, before laughing spitefully and leaning down to whisper in Loki's ear, "Everybody hates you. I arranged for Thanos' minions to take you. I knew it would help us to track Thanos down and destroy him, but more than that, I wanted them to torture you in every way, kill you from the inside out."

Loki blinked in shock, his mouth agape. He could do nothing but stare at Thor. Did he really hate Loki that much? Apparently so.

"In fact, I was regretful that I would not have a chance to torture you myself, _brother,_" Thor said menacingly.

What followed was almost more than Loki could take. If anything was going to break him, this would be it.

For an undeterminable amount of time, Thor beat him with all his might. He kicked him, smashed his face into the ground, spat on him, taunted him. Loki wept and pleaded the entire time.

"Brother, please!" he screamed, but Thor merely continued more forcefully.

Sif stood in the corner of the room, laughing and clapping with glee. She kept crooning how much she loved Thor, how she could never love a creature as pathetic as Loki.

Thor abused his brother in every way. He beat him black and blue and he defiled him in that white room. Loki vomited as the weight of his brother pinned him to the ground, pain filling his body, Thor's grunts and insults echoing in his ears. Never had he felt so sick in his life; disgusted at Thor's actions and terrified for his own sanity.

When Thor had finished his assault, he and Sif left Loki alone, weeping and bleeding on the floor. They had laughed at the sight of him. They promised him that he would die in this room. And they hoped it would be agonising.

It felt like an age lying on the ground like that. Loki was almost catatonic as he processed what had just occurred. When he stopped crying, he merely stared blankly. He was on the brink, the edge of his own sanity and it seemed as if nothing would save him.

He didn't even notice when the Tiphus entered the room and picked up his limp, fragile body. They took him to his dark cell and left him. There was no torture this night, but Loki still could not sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see Thor's hateful gaze burning him. As he lay trembling, he could not help but ask.

"Brother, why?"

* * *

On Midgard, in New York City, in the place known as Stark Tower, Thor looked up, confused.

"You alright, man?" Bruce asked, genuine concern in his voice.

"Yes," Thor said in a not-at-all believable voice.

"We can't have you zoning out on us, big guy," Tony joked, although there was a serious note to his words; the Avengers were facing a most daunting foe and they needed to decide what their next move was.

"It is nothing," Thor said quietly, "I just thought I heard something."

"Was it the sound of me pouring another drink? Should we add pre-cognitive abilities to your resumé?" Tony asked, smiling at his fellow Avengers. Bruce and Steve smiled, but Thor did not.

"No. It was my brother's voice," he said, angst etched into his face, "It was Loki."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: Regarding the Sif/Loki pairing, it was a scenario born out of Loki's nightmares and self-doubt – assuming he had a thing for Sif (who wouldn't, she is HOT) it would be a nightmare for him to see her reject him and go for Thor… So that is that. Anyways, thanks for the reviews and enjoy the next part!**

Thanos sat in his great dark throne and summoned two of the Tiphus who most regularly handled Loki.

"Did the hallucination work?" Thanos asked his servants.

"Better than we could have hoped, master," one of the Tiphus growled through bared teeth, a twisted smile, "We merely beat him, yet he seemed to see something that caused him great anguish."

"Did you take him?" Thanos asked, his tone changing to something far darker.

"We…did what was necessary, master," the other Tiphus replied, in a voice that was as nervous as it would ever be.

"I do not blame you, it seemed to work, whatever you did," Thanos said, "However I wish to speak with him, and I do not wish him to be a _complete_ wreck."

The Tiphus stood tall, yet they betrayed their fear in their eyes; even creatures born from the most hellish nightmares were no match for Death incarnate.

"Bring him to me today. I need to ask him some questions about the humans who are causing me some annoyance," Thanos continued, and his servants immediately went to bring him the prisoner.

* * *

Thor could not muster the energy to participate in the conversation, even though it was a matter of life and death.

Tony, Steve, Natasha, Clint and Bruce were discussing how to prevent Thanos from gathering the items known as the Infinity Gems that, when paired with it, would activate the power of the Infinity Gauntlet. They could not risk Thanos attaining those Gems, yet they could not see a feasible way to reaching the Gems first.

"We know for a fact that several of the Infinity Gems are in the possession of an ancient cult, right?" Steve said, doing his best to formulate a plan.

"Right! And several others belong to some other dudes, you know – Thor who were those guys?" Tony asked, but Thor was just frowning into the distance.

"Thor?" Natasha asked impatiently. She was growing tired of the plan going in circles; they needed their resident God to use his powers to help, yet he just wasn't there.

"Yes?" Thor said, suddenly out of his trance. The rest of the team just stared at him in disbelief.

"Sorry," Thor said earnestly, "I am just distracted."

"You thinking about that brother of yours?" Clint asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice. In his opinion, Loki was a criminal and deserved everything he got.

The rest of the team, however, were a little more sympathetic. Since Thor had told them of his strange visions, they were concerned for him and, though they begrudged admitting it, his adoptive brother also.

Thor said sometimes when he slept at night, he saw his brother lying alone in the dark, powerless with cursed bindings. He could sometimes hear screams of pain and Loki calling his name out, pleading for Thor to help. It was very disturbing.

The team did not want to rule out the fact that this could just be another scheme of Loki's, that he may well be in cohorts with Thanos. Since Loki had gone missing from the Asgardian cells, along with the Infinity Gauntlet, most people who knew of his previous crimes insisted that he had taken it to give to the death-obsessed Titan, yet Thor felt differently. The whole situation made him terribly uneasy and since he had begun to have these visions of Loki in peril, he was convinced that his brother needed rescuing. Unfortunately there were so many things at stake with Thanos involved, that Thor had no opportunity to do something about it.

* * *

Loki let the Tiphus drag him down a long dark corridor once more. His hands were bound behind his back but his ankles were free and his mouth was unbound also. Somewhere in his mind, he dimly noted how the Tiphus had bypassed the door of the white room they normally entered and were taking Loki somewhere else.

They reached a huge imposing door and pushed him through, leaving as soon as Loki was inside. They shut the door behind them.

"Loki," the booming voice of Thanos sounded from the other side of the room. Loki was inside the great hall once more. "I wish to speak with you. Come here."

Loki was shaking with fear but he summoned the strength to pull himself to his feet and shuffle weakly to where Thanos sat in his great throne. Loki had few physical injuries as the Tiphus normally forced him to drink the healing liquid after their encounters, but he was paler than he used to be and sickeningly thin from the lack of food. His hair was short and roughly cut and he wore only the pair of trousers he had worn since leaving Asgard. He felt terribly exposed but he held himself up as best he could, not wanting to show any weakness in front of his captor. When Loki had limped through the hall until he was but a few metres from where Thanos sat, he straightened himself up, summoning all the courage he had in him.

"Good to see you have not been broken yet," Thanos grinned down at him, "I need you mentally capable, so you can answer a few questions I have."

Loki remained silent, staring at Thanos with his haunted eyes.

"What do you know of the human group "The Avengers?" Thanos asked leaning forward in his throne.

Loki looked up at him, puzzled. Why did he need to know?

"You had some dealings with them on Earth?" Thanos prompted. Loki remained silent.

"They have a Hulk?" Thanos demanded, impatience rising in his voice.

"I will not talk to you," Loki said in a croaky yet strong voice. He narrowed his eyes and tilted his chin up slightly, baring his defiance, "You should just kill me."

Thanos audibly growled and rose from him seat. He took three strides forwards and he was right in front of Loki. In one swift movement, he grabbed Loki by the throat and lifted him up to his eye level.

"You will talk or I will make things worse for you here! Do you understand me? Things can get far, far worse for you," Thanos screamed into Loki's face, hoping to intimidate him into talking.

"I am already in hell, I have nothing to live for, so why would I want to help you," Loki rasped, as desperate for air as he was for release.

Thanos cocked his head slightly, narrowed his eyes and considered this for a moment.

"So be it," he said simply and dropped Loki to the floor. Loki coughed and inched away from Thanos, shocked at how easily he had avoided interrogation, "The Tiphus will take you back to your cell. First you will drink this though. It will keep your strength up."

Thanos retrieved another skull chalice seemingly from thin air and gave it to Loki. Loki drank without hesitation whilst Thanos ensured he finished it all. Once the skull was drained Loki felt a familiar light-headed dizziness.

By the time he had been hauled back to his cell, his brain felt as though it was full of air and his eyes were clouded by mist.

He almost jumped out of his skin when a voice hissed into his ear.

"You should have talked, Loki," it was Thor.

Loki turned to look at his brother and felt a wave of nausea as he remembered what had happened the last time he had seen him.

"Just tell Thanos what he wants to know," Thor urged him.

"Why would you support such an idea?" Loki asked, horrified, "I thought you were a part of the Avengers?"

"You of all people should understand the pull of darkness over light, brother. You yourself betrayed Asgard, why shouldn't I?" Thor taunted him mockingly.

Loki had no answers. He wondered why Thor couldn't just tell Thanos what he needed to know himself… It did not seem logical. _Could this be some kind of trick? _Loki thought, and he wished with all his might that it was, so he could be spared the pain of what Thor seemed to be doing to him.

Rational thought was suddenly banished from his mind when Thor straddled him without warning.

"If you won't talk…" Thor whispered menacingly, "…the least you can do is _fuck."_

Loki screamed and tried to fight Thor, but he was far too strong. Thor flipped him onto his stomach and yanked his trousers down, all the while holding Loki still between his muscular thighs.

"No, brother, don't do this, not again!" Loki howled, forgetting that this could all be an illusion.

Thor ignored his pleas and merely laughed. Loki felt Thor's pressing against his entrance, none too gently, and he fought as hard as he could. Thor roughly clamped one hand over Loki's protesting mouth and gripped Loki's bony hip with the other.

Nothing could have prepared Loki for the pain when Thor forced himself inside. Penetrated, stabbed, abused. Each thrust felt like it was tearing him in two and he could feel blood flowing from his own body. He could do nothing to cease the pain; he had no refuge in his mind he could escape to, because he was truly bereft of happiness and peace. With nowhere to escape, he was forced to remain present in the agony of what was happened.

The man he had grown up with, whom he called 'brother', was viciously raping him for the second time. In that moment, all he could wish for was death.

* * *

On Midgard, the true Thor closed his eyes as a single tear escaped them. All he saw was Loki's pain.

"Brother, where are you?"


	6. Chapter 6

"Where are the Avengers based?" A Tiphus snarled for the hundredth time.

Loki sat, bound to a chair in the white room, his mouth set on a firm line. He said nothing.

"The longer you remain silent, the worse this will be for you."

Nothing.

The single Tiphus who was guarding Loki raised his weapon once more. It was a long and thin blade, razor sharp with a faint red glow. It raised the knife to Loki's bare and ravaged chest once more. Loki could feel it searing his flesh before it even touched him. The Tiphus slowly dragged it over his skin, over the fresh cuts that were already intensely painful. Loki grimaced and his shoulders shook from the strain of keeping silent, but he gave nothing away.

"Who are you protecting?" The Tiphus roared, losing its patience, becoming even more horrifying in its anger, "Surely not your _brother_?"

Loki winced at the mention of Thor; his memories burned in his mind, the feeling of utter violation making his skin crawl. Yet still he said nothing. He wasn't sure how much of this he could take, but he knew he would die before he revealed anything. He had made many mistakes in the past and this would be his final act of atonement.

"Perhaps I should try a different approach…"

The Tiphus slashed Loki's binding with his blade and threw him to the ground. Loki fell, sprawled to the floor rubbing his raw wrists.

The Tiphus kicked Loki onto his stomach and laid a foot on his back.

"Feel familiar?" it whispered menacingly.

The Tiphus crouched down and began to edge Loki's trousers slowly down his hips.

"You can end this whenever you wish…"

Loki's breathing became shallow as he felt panic creep through him. The Tiphus had fully exposed his buttocks and was preparing to straddle Loki.

"Speak up, little god…" The Tiphus said leadingly. Loki cried, but his tears fell in silence, unaccompanied by sobs.

The Tiphus was moments away from abusing Loki in a way which should have elicited begging and swift answers to its questions, yet still there was nothing. The Tiphus hesitated for a moment, before roaring in fury; this creature was not used to not getting results and it's fury spread through its every cell at that moment.

Loki jumped at the sudden noise but he did not realise what was about to happen.

The Tiphus swiftly grabbed its blade and pushed it into Loki's exposed back with ease.

Loki finally broke his silence and screamed in pain. Of all the agony he had experienced at the hands on the Tiphus, this felt entirely different; it felt like death.

As blood spread on the floor around him and his mind grew foggy, he managed a small smile. He had not given his enemies anything, he had died protecting the Avengers, including his brother, despite the horrendous actions he had committed. At last he felt free.

* * *

"Guys, this is better than we could have expected," Tony beamed at his heroic team, "Thor, you pulled it out of the bag, buddy!"

The team nodded in approval at the God of Thunder, smiling their encouragement, but Thor only managed a small smile back at them.

In all honesty, distracting himself from dark thoughts about Loki was a welcoming idea, and it had been an easier mission than anyone could have predicted. Thor had travelled home to Asgard to ask of the whereabouts of the Elders of the Universe, as it was written that they had at one time held the Infinity Gems in their possession. Odin had been more than happy to help and had instructed Heimdall to send Thor to where the Elders resided, outside the Nine Realms. Thor learnt that the Elders of the Universe held four of the six Gems that were need to activate the Infinity Gauntlet and, ironically, the only way Thanos could steal from these ancient beings was if he had a functioning Infinity Gauntlet; without the Gems, it was a mere trinket.

The journey had taken Thor less than a week and he was as pleased as anyone that victory did not seem probable for Thanos. Yet as soon as he returned to Midgard, the gnawing sensation in his gut increased. No matter how successful he had been, he still knew that somewhere out there, Loki was suffering.

* * *

"He lives?" Thanos asked in the humming silence of his dark hall.

"Just. We gave him much of the healing liquid and it seemed to be successful, though he appears weaker than ever," A Tiphus replied, almost meekly.

"Does he seem sound of mind?" Thanos went on.

There was a pregnant pause, tension making the air thick.

"No, master, whatever was left of his sanity has gone," One of the slightly more brave Tiphus said reluctantly.

Thanos sighed deeply, glaring at his ugly minions.

"Very well. If he is no longer of any use to us, you can dispose of him by whatever means you deem necessary," Thanos said with deliberate finality, "and have whichever one of you who was responsible for this destroyed."

* * *

When Loki had woken, his first thought was that he had gone to hell. His second thought was that he was not surprised by this. His third thought was one of nauseating dread; hell looked a lot like his cell among the Tiphus…

When he fully comprehended that he had not died by the knife of the Tiphus, he howled in despair. _I will never be free of this, _he thought, feeling sick. Loki suddenly realised that he was unbound and, although he was still too weak to summon his magic, he took the opportunity to stand and try to give his muscles a gentle work. The phantom stab wound in his back ached as he rose however it felt good to move his limbs. Even though it was pitch black in his cell, Loki tried to walk as much as possible.

When the Tiphus entered his cell, he felt sorrowful but not in the least surprised. They grabbed him under the arms and dragged him to the white room, his feet trailing behind him.

Loki fell to the floor with a thud, but had no time to even look around, before the Tiphus had started binding his wrists behind his back tightly, cinching his arms in painfully at the elbows. He felt the cursed leather muting his magic once more. The Tiphus tied his feet tightly and when he was fully incapacitated, one of them retrieved a huge blade.

Loki was intentionally keeping up the pretence that he had lost his mind entirely, as he believed it would make him less satisfying to torture, but when he saw the knife being held up it was intensely hard not to let the fear show.

"So we are in agreement? We deliver him as a present? Let the humans deal with their wanted criminal," one of the Tiphus declared, and the others nodded.

Loki felt something stir within him; humans? Was he going back to Earth? At that moment he knew he could not give any signs that he was still sane, he could not risk them wanting to keep him there.

When the Tiphus brought the knife up to his chest it took a great deal of effort not to recoil.

When they started carving into his skin, he put every fibre of his being into not moving, not even blinking or shedding a drop of sweat. He merely lay and stared blankly, mouth open slightly. He willed the tears not to fall from his eyes.

The Tiphus eventually finished and stood to admire their work.

" 'I am the traitor Loki', " one of the Tiphus read out loud what they had written onto Loki's chest.

"He will be found and he will rot in a human prison for the rest of his long, pitiful life," another declared with malicious glee.

"I think one more touch might be necessary," a Tiphus said as he reached for something else.

A long sharp needle and a length of especially thin cursed leather. Loki supressed the urge to vomit.

When the Tiphus had finally finished, Loki's face was covered in blood and he had many stitches over his mouth.

They had sewn his mouth shut. It was excruciating to say the least, the sharp sting and burn as the needle pierced the soft skin of his lips. Loki was most worried about his inability to speak once he arrived on Midgard, yet he accepted that _anything _would be better that remaining here.

Once of the Tiphus grabbed a handful of Loki's short black hair and Loki experienced the blinding light that enveloped him once more. This time when it faded, Loki heard strangely familiar noises… the air smelt like something he couldn't put his finger on and he began to make out his surroundings.

He was in New York.

"You destroyed much of this human city, so it seemed only right to deposit you here," the Tiphus who had transported Loki said, "Farewell, Loki, God of Mischief."

And with that the Tiphus disappeared. As soon as his malevolent guard had gone, Loki sat up as best he could in his bound state and looked around him; he was in the middle of a street. No cars had been approaching as there had been a red light but now it was green and a swarm of honking, fast cars were speeding towards him.

Loki looked around frantically, seeing only towering grey buildings and masses of people on either side of him as he sat helpless in the road.

He shut his eyes tight and screamed as loudly and as powerfully as his frail body and sewn up lips would let him.

* * *

Thor looked up suddenly.

"Did you hear that?" he asked Steve urgently.

"Hear what?" Steve replied, puzzled and a little tiresome of Thor's skittish behaviour.

"He's here," Thor breathed excitedly, "I can feel it!"

And with that, the God swung his ever-present hammer above his head and suddenly launched out the building, smashing a window as he left, soaring above the streets of New York until he was no more than a tiny speck in the distance.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey! Hey, stop! Stop, there's a guy in the road!"

"Oh my god!"

"What's wrong with him?"

These were the frantic shouts Loki heard all around him as he prepared for death at the hands of a speeding New York driver. There were people all around him, humans running into the middle of the road, flagging down cars and gathering around where Loki sat.

"Dude, are you OK?" one man asked, he couldn't have been over twenty-five and he looked as though he was still wearing his pyjamas.

"Somebody call an ambulance," someone else said, a woman dressed in impeccably chic clothes.

There were all kinds of humans encircling Loki and he felt a pang of regret that he had once tried to enslave them all and a surge of gratitude that they were now helping him.

"Jesus, look at his chest!" one man cried, gesturing at Loki's bleeding torso.

Another man actually removed his jacket and bent down to dab at Loki's fresh wounds with it.

"You're going to be alright, son," the man said tenderly as he wiped away the blood.

"Excuse me, I'm a doctor!" someone called, pushing his way through the crowd, "An ambulance is on its way."

The doctor knelt down and spoke softly to Loki, telling him to relax, everything would be fine. When he caught sight of the stitches in Loki's lips, which were partially covered by all the blood, he actually got up and moved away to vomit on the sidewalk.

"Holy shit, look at his mouth!" someone cried and everyone in earshot gasped.

The concern was visible on everyone's faces as they silently thought to themselves, _someone has done something abhorrent to this man, the poor guy…_

That was until the man who had been staunching the flow of blood from Loki's chest managed to make out the words that were carved there. He suddenly recoiled.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered before loudly exclaiming, "Look! Look at the words!"

The people within earshot fought to look. Expressions of worry turned dark within moments.

_I am the traitor Loki_

"This…this is the bastard who destroyed most of New York!" the elegantly dressed woman cried, distancing herself from Loki as if his immorality might be catching.

As more people in the crowd realised who this battered man was, their mutinous muttering began to drown out the sounds of the city, the cars honking, the faint music coming from some bar; all Loki heard was hatred. He would have given anything to be able to apologise and tell them that he didn't expect them to forgive him, but if they would just have mercy at this moment and help him… But his sewn up lips prevented him from reasoning with him and his bound limbs made it impossible to attempt any kind of escape. Not that escape would have been so easy anyway for Loki suddenly realised how very, very tired he was.

The crowd around him started to seem more like a mob keen for a lynching and Loki heard disturbing snippets of conversation.

"…just kill him now, no one would blame us…"

"…doesn't deserve medical attention…"

"…he destroyed _everything_…"

"…my son almost died in that attack…"

"…an eye for an eye…"

They were baying for the blood of the God who had wronged them. They wanted revenge; who was Loki to judge them for such a thing?

* * *

Thor soared above the streets of New York, Mjölnir clutched in his fist, desperately scanning the streets below.

Unless he was going insane - a concept that Thor highly doubted – Loki was here, in the city, somehow.

Thor had felt the familiar sensation that Loki was suffering and then, all very suddenly, he seemed to sense that his brother was unbelievably close, he could even have sworn he heard him scream somewhere.

Refusing to even entertain the idea that he could be wrong, Thor continued to fly, seeking his brother out. He didn't know what exactly would lead him to Loki, but when he was above 34th street and he saw an ever-increasing crowd in the middle of the road, his gut immediately told him this was the place.

He dropped to the ground with an almighty crash, startling many of the people there. In his fine Asgardian armour and with his imposing hammer in his hand, Thor made for an impressive sight and many people backed away, hands held slightly aloft as if surrendering.

"Loki!" he yelled powerfully, and he could tell from the way that everyone in the crowd looked up with slightly accusing eyes, that he had found his brother.

The humans parted before him in a rather biblical fashion and he finally caught sight of Loki; he was sitting awkwardly on the ground, his body drooping in a way that suggested he was immeasurably weak, chest bare apart from streaks of blood, bound and shying away from the malicious glances of the people who surrounded him. Thor could never have imagined his brother in such a state and he barely believed his eyes. He strode through the crowd and as he got closer, Loki looked up and noticed him approaching.

There was a blood-curdling muffled scream. Everyone looked down in shock to see if it really had come from the bloody heap on the ground. Their thoughts were confirmed when Loki continued to scream, eyes brimming with tears, trying to push himself away from the oncoming Thor.

"Brother, stop – what are you doing?" Thor exclaimed, beyond puzzled, "Loki, calm down, there is no need for this!"

Thor grew impatient and more-than-a-little irked; he had come to rescue Loki, the one person he had been fretting about for months, and now the ungrateful little runt was retreating as if Thor had some terrible contagious disease?

Thor's anger quickly abated as he looked closely as Loki, at how incredibly traumatised he seemed to be. Thor made his mind up quickly. He bent down and scooped Loki up in his arms. Loki struggled something fierce, but Thor's strength was unmatched.

The humans made several protests, something about 'justice' and 'jail', but Thor ignored them. He swung Mjölnir above his head and launched into the air, his resistant brother tightly cradled in his free arm.

* * *

Loki felt repulsed and ashamed and terrified to be so close to Thor as they flew, but knowing there was no way for him to escape, he resigned himself to the situation, as horrific as it was.

When the godly duo finally landed Loki looked around him and experienced a strange feeling of homecoming and familiarity. The last time he had been in this place, he had thrown the owner from the window and been smashed into the ground by a huge, green rage-monster…

Thor laid Loki down on an elegant leather couch and began muttering soothing words whilst stroking his hair. Loki felt nothing but abject terror.

Before his nightmares could begin again, however, several members on the Avengers came striding in, demanding to know where Thor had flown off to. Loki felt temporary relief at their presence; surely Thor would attempt nothing with them in the room…

When they registered Loki lying on the couch, each one fell immediately silent. Loki remembered them all, though they seemed like different people all together. There was Captain America, the Ironman and – Loki shifted nervously – Bruce Banner, thankfully not in his Hulk guise. Hawkeye and the Black Widow were missing; the man whom Loki had enslaved with his mind and the woman who outsmarted Loki with hers.

"I – I can't believe it," Tony broke the brief, stunned silence, "How is he here?"

"I found him," Thor replied simply, a large hand laid protectively on Loki's shoulder. Although maybe it wasn't protective, maybe it was something different altogether, a promise, a threat… A low groan escaped Loki's throat, causing everyone in the room to stare at him as if he were a wounded animal. I practically am, Loki thought wryly to himself.

"He looks terrible," Bruce said softly and everyone merely nodded, too shocked to offer real responses.

Everyone except for Thor who was staring at Loki with a real urgency. Loki deliberately avoided his gaze.

"I need someone to fetch me medical supplies, right now," Thor said in a low and even voice, though no one moved right away, "NOW!"

His thunderous shout spurred Steve into action, who immediately left the room. Within moments he had returned with a small but heavy-looking medical kit. He walked over and knelt by the sofa, near Loki's head.

"I was trained in basic first aid when I fought," Steve announced militantly. Loki looked at him with wide eyes, silently begging for him to be gentle and to keep him from harm. The Captain always seemed like a man of high moral value and Loki felt the urge to stay close in order to evade further harm.

Steve unzipped the Medikit and pulled out an antiseptic wash. He started to lightly apply it to Loki's chest, being as gentle as possible. Loki squirmed a little on the sofa, trying to communicate that he needed his bonds cut; his arms were seizing up and cramping painfully from the strenuous position they were forced into.

Steve looked into his eyes for a moment and seemed to understand.

"Someone grab some scissors, he's tied up," Steven commanded, "and make sure they're sharp, sharp enough to cut through leather."

"On it," Tony said and left the room briefly. He returned with a large sharp pair of scissors for Steve and a neat scotch for himself.

Steve began trying to cut Loki's bonds, but it was to no avail; the blades hardly even dented the tough material. They don't know it's cursed, Loki thought to himself, and I can't tell them because the same bloody stuff is keeping my mouth shut!

"It must be cursed," Thor muttered, hardly a beat after Loki had had the same thought, "Hold on, I might be able to…"

Thor reached for Loki's ankles and examined the leather closely. He seemed to make his mind up.

"Hold still, brother," Thor commanded, before suddenly tearing at the bindings. He used both hands to try and rip the leather in twain, straining against it. The muscles in his arms bulged and his face contorted with the effort, veins rising in his temple. Suddenly and miraculously, the leather snapped and he threw it to the floor. It seemed to shrink down in size when it was removed and it suddenly seemed harmless.

Thor apologised before he manoeuvred Loki gently so he could reach his wrists and elbows. It was far more painful having these restraints removed, as each of Thor's strong tugs jarred Loki's sore and stiff joints. However after much pulling and grunting and swearing on Thor's part, the bindings were off!

Loki immediately began rubbing his wrists tenderly, before his hands automatically drifted up to his mouth. He felt the wetness of the blood and began whimpering as he felt the tough and throbbing cursed stitches. As long as those were in he would neither be able to talk or perform the simplest magic.

"Feel better, brother?" Thor asked with a slight smile.

Loki looked in his eyes and immediately remembered the crushing weight of Thor on top of him, the excruciating pain of being violated so forcefully…

He jumped to his feet and tried to run. He didn't know where he was going, this place, Stark Tower, seemed so unfamiliar and confusing. Maybe he had been in his dark cell for so long, but Loki was astounded by the intensity of the natural daylight and he felt sick and disorientated. He dropped to his knees, dry heaving.

"No, no, no, Loki! You can't be sick, you will choke if you do," Bruce said calmly, approaching Loki to lay a hand on his back, "Just calm down, alright?"

Everyone else looked thoroughly confused, apart from Thor who could not conceal the hurt in his eyes.

"He is terrified of me," he said sadly.

"What did you guys do to him, when he was imprisoned on Mordor, or whatever it's called," Tony said, sipping his third scotch.

"Asgard. And nothing, we hadn't even put him to trial yet," Thor sighed, his brows knitted together in puzzlement, "I do not understand."

"Uhh, guys, we have a situation over here," Bruce called from where he was sitting on the floor with Loki.

Thor rushed over before Steve and Tony and immediately knelt down by his brother.

Loki's chest was constricting painfully. He felt overwhelming panic and his breathing was shallow and laboured. He was drawing in air through his nose as best he could, but it was not enough. He felt light-headed. Black spots danced before his eyes and he felt close to the heavenly release of unconsciousness.

"I have to take him back to Asgard, the healers there will be able to do more than any human doctor can," Thor declared, already scooping an unconscious Loki up in his arms.

"Thor, I hate to tell you this, but S.H.I.E.L.D. really should know about this," Steve said as diplomatically as he could.

"We can call up Clint or Natasha right now, rather than talk to Fury?" Tony offered.

"Word will spread that Loki was in New York again, people will talk, and to be honest, the most logical place for Loki to be is – "

"ENOUGH!" Thor bellowed, interrupting Steve dramatically, "He is my brother and I shall do with him as I see fit!"

Tony, Steve and Bruce remained silent, their silence confirming their resignation. Fury would be pissed as hell when he found out Loki had been in their custody once more, but none of them were willing to disagree with Thor when he was so riled.

"Heimdall! I know you hear me, I need to return to Asgard immediately!" Thor shouted, his face turned to the ceiling.

There was a tense pause when all that could be heard was Loki's harsh inhales and exhales of breath.

Then there was an almighty, deafening bang and a stream of white light tore through the ceiling. Thor, along with Loki in his arms, was spirited away back to Asgard.

When they had gone and the otherworldly display had ceased, Tony went to inspect the damage in the roof. There was a large and neat hole directly above where Thor had been standing.

Tony sighed, "Yeah, that's cool. I never liked that bit of roof anyway, so…They did me a favor really. Yeah."

**Author's note: TO BE CONTINUED… (obviously). Just wanted to say thanks again for reviews and comments, it all helps, and from here on out, the story will be pretty hurt/comforty. So no more terrorising of Loki…well not _much_**** more, anyway.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note: Thank you so so much for the reviews and story alerts etc, it makes writing each chapter more rewarding. In this next bit there will be plenty of talking and recovering and probably many tears… Enjoy :)**

The ground felt so different here and the air smelt as close to something comforting as Loki had ever experienced. The strong arms that held him lowered him gently to the ground and Loki felt the unmistakable hum of energy beneath him that was the Bifrost, albeit the shattered Bifrost that now existed. He heard deep and low voices above him but he was barely conscious so he let the words wash over him without really hearing them.

"It was no simple feat bringing you here, Thor," Heimdall said in his low, baritone voice, "but I saw you had the escaped prisoner Loki in your custody."

"Heimdall, he needs immediate care from the healers, will you summon them to collect him?" Thor urged.

"As you wish."

* * *

When Loki came to, the first thing he registered was the softness of the place he lay. It had been a long time since he had experienced something like this, perhaps before he fell from the Bifrost so long ago. He didn't want to open his eyes and be yanked back into reality; in his stupor, he had cast a shadow over all the pain in his mind, but he felt it simmering like a festering sore that he needed to be scratched and he couldn't put it off forever.

Loki opened his eyes and saw he was in a white room. It was a healing room, but the stark whiteness instantly reminded him of the place where he had been tortured for so long. He remembered knives and burning pokers, nails and razors and clubs, and blood. The blood that he had shed was the thing that stained his memory the most; the way it always pooled beneath him, shockingly vivid on the white floor; the way it felt when he knew all that blood was coming from him yet he was powerless to stop it.

He tried to think about his current situation, hard though it was, and he felt a lightness in his limbs. He gingerly removed his arms from beneath the covers and stretched them, relishing the lack of stiffness in them. He did the same to his legs and it felt glorious, he felt reborn. Loki's body ached a little in places, but overall he was in better shape than he had been for some time. _The work of Asgardian healers, _he thought. He had almost forgotten he had returned to Asgard.

His time on Midgard had been brief and he remembered it in pieces; the hate of humanity and the mercy of the Avengers. He remembered Thor too. That thought made him break out in an icy sweat of pure terror. He brought Loki back here, so he must be close by… Loki did not want to face him again. He decided in that moment that he would go straight to the All-Father and beg to be put back in his cell, locked away from the all the world, including his cruel brother.

Loki got out of his bed but only made it a few steps before his legs gave out and he was sprawled on the floor.

_He was strung up by his arms, and they were dragging shards of white hot metal across his chest. He howled and sobbed and begged for them to stop, but they paid him no heed. Unrelenting pain; long, thin wires sheathed with tiny barbs were wrapped tightly around his arms, his thighs, his neck and he felt every drop of blood fall. Burning, acidic liquid poured into his eyeballs and into his mouth, setting him alight from the inside… _

* * *

When Thor heard the screams of terror coming from Loki's room, he immediately bolted inside and flew down to where Loki writhed on the floor. It looked as though he was having some kind of fit, his limbs were thrashing and his eyes were shut. He was somewhere else, trapped in a living nightmare. Thor cradled his head and rocked back and forth ever-so gently.

"Shhh, brother, it is alright, you are safe now," he soothed quietly, one hand stroking Loki's hair, which Thor noted was much shorter now.

Loki ceased his struggling and opened his eyes. Thor offered him a kind smile, but much to his confusion, a look of pure terror ghosted across Loki's feature and he immediately tried to pull away and put distance between himself and Thor.

"Brother, please," Loki said in a weak, trembling voice, "I cannot bear it, please, leave me."

"Loki, I do not understand you. I am here to help," Thor tried to steady his voice and not seem aggressive, "yet you act as though I am a monster."

"Please, I beg of you, do not touch me again," Loki muttered, looking around for escape like cornered animal.

"What do you mean?" Thor asked, his bemusement turning into dread; Loki was clearly terrified of him and, for once, there seemed to be no lies or mischief in this strange act.

Loki remained silent, but tense, ready to flee at any moment.

"Brother, _tell me_ why you are behaving like this?" Thor urged, resisting the temptation to grab Loki's shoulders and give them a prompting shake.

To his horror, Loki starting unashamedly weeping. His whole face creased up and his shoulders shook, eventually turning into harsh sobs that wracked his entire body. He covered his face with his hands and continued to cry.

"Why? Why – how could you do that to me, to everyone?" Loki spluttered from behind his hands.

"DO what, Loki?" Thor raised his voice, not wanting to scare his disturbed brother, but he was so frustrated. "I do not have the slightest notion what you are speaking of!"

Loki looked up at him through red-rimmed, tearful green eyes. Thor had never seen anyone look quite so vulnerable. Loki seemed to be nine years old again, an innocent child.

"You…you must remember…" Loki trailed off. He was staring into Thor's eyes, searching for a hint of truth, and to his surprise, there was more than a mere hint. "In the white room, Sif was there…you beat me and –"

He cut himself short, unable to look Thor in the eyes. Thor looked thoroughly dismayed.

"I don't know what you are talking about, Loki," he said in a soft voice, treating Loki as one would treat a volatile animal, trying to gain his trust.

"You don't?" Loki asked quietly, finally meeting Thor's blue gaze with his green.

"No, I do not recognize anything you speak of," Thor said, jumping summersaults in his mind as Loki seemed to relax a little. "No one in Asgard, nor Midgard for that matter, knows where you have been since you disappeared from our custody."

Loki took this in. it was clear that he was casting his mind back, rooting through his own memories.

"I want to believe you, Thor," Loki whispered, an inner strife heavy in his words, "but I saw you, and I felt everything…"

"Loki, I need you to trust me. You have been gone for two human months. You left without a trace, along with the Infinity Gauntlet. I hadn't seen you for all that time before you turned up in Ney York," Thor said slowly, allowing Loki to take in his words, "Whatever or whomever has made you so frightened was not me, brother."

Loki remained silent, seeming to ponder this. Thor took the time to really look at him; he was wearing large white bed clothes that only accentuated how skinny he was. The exposed parts of his body, his arms and neck revealed a sickening amount of scars, in all manners of shapes and sizes. His face was paler than it had been and alarmingly gaunt. He had numerous small wounds around his mouth from the stitches that, thankfully, the healers had been able to remove, promising minimal scarring. His eyes betrayed the extent of his suffering. Haunted and fearful, they were without the mischievous spark that Thor knew so well. They were the eyes of someone who had encountered more suffering than anyone should have to go through.

"Loki," Thor began, breaking the silence, "I do not know where you were, but every night I saw you. I heard you screaming. Where were you, brother?"

Loki took a deep shuddering breath and prepared to recount his tale.

* * *

He did not know whether he should believe Thor or not. He so wanted to believe him, and in all honesty, he had begun to felt safe and at ease in this room. The more Thor spoke, the less he sounded like the Thor that had raped Loki twice in that terrible place. They seemed like two different people. Maybe in explaining his story he would stumble upon some kind of answer.

Before he started talking he asked Thor to help him back over to the bed, where he then laid back with his head on his pillow and started from the beginning.

He recalled the mysterious creatures that had shown up in his cell in Asgard, promising him escape, and the subsequent betrayal. Once he started talking he couldn't stop. He recounted the way it had felt to look Thanos in the eyes (Thor's own eyes widened when Loki mentioned Thanos), the pitch black cell he was confined to, the burning leather restraints that withered his power. He told Thor about the white room and the nature of his torture at the hands of the Tiphus. Thor looked physically sick at some of Loki's descriptions, but it felt therapeutic to share his experience, so Loki dutifully continued.

Loki considered missing out his encounter with Sif and Thor in the white room, but he needed to see the look in Thor's eyes when he heard it; Loki truly believed this would convince him of Thor's actions either way.

"…and then you – you violated me," Loki said quietly, "Defiled me there in front of Sif. She laughed…"

Thor was openly crying now, tears flowing from his narrowed eyes.

"In the name of Valhalla, I-" Thor started but had to pause to blow his nose and wipe away the steady stream of tears, "Brother. Brother I swear on Mjölnir, on the All-Father, on all of the Nine Realms, I would never- _never_ – do those things to you."

Loki began to cry again himself.

When he told Thor it had happened again, in the darkness of his cell, Thor leapt up and ran to the bathroom where he was violently sick in the toilet.

Loki closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. Thor was telling the truth. He heard it in his brother's voice and he felt it in his own bones. That feeling of dread and terror and repulsion at Thor's actions had felt like rocks in the pit of Loki's stomach, dragging him down. However now they seemed to have gone as he realised not all had been as it seemed in that terrible place.

In the clear and warm safety of the room, Loki could plunge himself back into his ordeal, reliving certain moments. He remembered the drinks he had been given from the skull chalice, in particular the liquid that seemed like water and made his head pound. He had imbibed it twice, both times preceding an encounter with the other Thor…

It was just another torture, another nightmare carried out by the Tiphus… This revelation made the edges of Loki's mouth turn up slightly, an almost-smile.

Thor re-entered the room looking pale and fraught. Loki immediately arose from his bed, and stood swaying on his feet for a moment. Thor took a step back, raising his hands tentatively, to show he was no threat to Loki.

However Loki took a few limping steps towards Thor and embraced him, pressing his face into the cool metal of Thor's breast plate armour.

Thor couldn't help but smile as he wrapped his arms gently around Loki, hugging him back. How long had it been since they had shown affection to one another like this? They had not truly felt like brothers for such a long time and, for all his crimes, Loki was still kin to him and he had gone through something truly horrific. All Thor wanted to do was provide brotherly comfort as best he could.

Loki shed tears of relief and, perhaps, shock; he had, after all, suffered horrifically during the last few months. It has felt like longer. Now, as he hugged Thor, he still felt a bite of discomfort in his gut. Even though the being who had sexually abused him was most certainly not Thor, it has looked and sounded just like him.

Loki vowed that he would try with all his might to push that memory from him. When his strength returned and, along with it, his magic, he would banish the memory forevermore and he would love Thor like a brother again, like he had when they were children and Thor swore to always protect Loki from harm.

**A/N: Next chapter, more Thor comfort, then some Loki and Odin talk and then maybe some not so nice bits and maybe even some Avenger stuff! Stay tuned…**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating (I've been moving house) but I wanted to make sure the Loki/Odin reunion was a good one. Hope you like it, it's plenty talky but there still might be some things in store for our raven-haired friend… Enjoy!**

Loki woke up feeling better; he was in no way healed, physically or mentally, but he was starting to feel strong again. He stretched his sore limbs in the safety of his plush bed, sighing as his joints clicked with a satisfying release of tension.

He could feel his magic tingling in his fingertips, gradually returning to its former power. He removed one of his arms from under the warm duvet and examined the fresh wounds that deformed it, the smattering of cuts and raw burns. Loki summoned every bit of magic he could muster and made it creep up to his exposed arm; before his eyes, the injuries healed, melting away and leaving a smooth, pale limb that had no evidence of the torture it had received not so long ago.

It was a good feeling to be able to control his magic and his body in this way after so long of living in bondage of his entire being. Loki felt like he wanted to use his newly discovered power for something big, yet he did not know of his own intentions yet; he still had anger inside him, residual pain from all the betrayal and hurt he felt from discovering that most of his life had been a sham. Loki knew now that his family were not really his family. Whereas their blood ran warm and royal, his was icy and cold through and through, blue like his real skin.

Everything Loki had gone through had softened him though. He woke up each night with memories of the horrific torture he had experienced and every time he was pulled from these waking nightmares, he longed for the warm embrace of someone he called Brother. Or Father. After all he had endured, Loki felt mostly regret for his actions and a thirst for familiarity and comfort. It was a glory as much as a grief; Loki didn't know how he would return from the brink he had been so precariously balanced. He was coming to term with everything in his own head, but would the city of Asgard, and his own adoptive family, be as accepting?

* * *

A light knock at the door jogged Loki from his thoughts. Not sure what the protocol was, Loki cleared his throat and called meekly,

"Come in?"

An extravagantly dressed guard entered the room. He did not look at Loki as he stared straight ahead, chin tilted up in a haughty fashion.

"I present to you," the guard began to announce, "the All-Father."

Loki's eyes widened incredulously. Surely not…the All-Father wouldn't deem to come all the way to the healing rooms of Asgard just to see him? Surely not…

But here he was; decked out in all his kingly fineries and looking imposing despite his on-going years. Odin sat down on the edge of Loki's bed softly. All Loki could do was stare dumbly at the powerful being sat on his bed.

"Hello, Loki," Odin said quietly.

"All-Father," Loki managed after a slight pause.

"I think we will shorten that," Odin said thoughtfully. "You will cause me Father, as you have always done."

Loki took a moment to think about that. It was not what he had been expecting; during his incarceration, his subconscious along with the Tiphus, had tortured him with false memories of his father, memories in which the old king loathed his existence.

"I understand you have undergone great sufferings, Loki," Odin continued, "but you need to know – I want you to know – that you are safe now."

Loki still did not speak but tears crept from the corners of his eyes, betraying how touched he felt.

"You brother told me everything you have told him. All I can say is that I am sorry. Thor said that those creatures tried to torture you for information, yet you remained silent. Your selflessness in the face of great evil and even greater harm have earned you your freedom in the Kingdom of Asgard," as Odin finished, his eyes shone with some unknown emotion; it could have been happiness, or relief, or even pride.

"Father, this seems too good to be true," Loki whispered in a hoarse, breaking voice. There was a terrible feeling in his stomach that he would wake up any minute among the Tiphus, this all having been a dream in order to make his reality all that worse. That was the only way Loki could explain the immense gratitude he was feeling.

"I thought something similar when Thor returned to Asgard with your broken body," Odin said gently, "I did not foresee your safe return… I did not foresee your safe return as my son, at least. I feared greatly you would return as an enemy."

"I am so sorry, Father," Loki wiped his eyes, which he was forcing to meet Odin's single gaze.

"I'm not sure I understand exactly why you did what you did, Loki, but I know you. I know you better than you think and I have never, not for one moment, believed that there was no justification for the way you acted," Odin held Loki's gaze, his voice rich with authority but also love.

"I cannot justify my actions, Father. All I know is how I felt and what I wanted. I never tried to look to deep into my own reasoning… because I was scared of what I would find," Loki said, all too quickly as if the words hurt to say. "That day, on the bridge… I thought you wanted me to leave. I thought you were casting me out. It hurt and I decided to prove you right; if you suspected that I was corrupted, poisonous, I wanted to show you just how poisonous I could be."

Loki could no longer meet Odin's eyes with this admission.

"It pains me to hear you say that," Odin said quietly and Loki winced. He had revealed too much to the All-Father…

"I don't wish to cause you pain, truly I don't," Loki urged through tearful gasps.

"You must wonder about your childhood, Loki," Odin continued, in a different tone altogether. "You must wonder how we regarded you, having had the knowledge off your true parentage."

Loki nodded, unable to speak, but now burdened with a desperation to know the answers to those questions. He _did_ wonder these things, more often than he'd care to admit.

"I remember the first time you spilt your appearance. It was quite a shock. I was going to spend the day teaching you and your brother about the Bifrost. I was going to introduce you to Heimdall – you must have been eight or nine, Thor was a little older. You were so inquisitive, and fiercely intelligent, even then. You were both following me through the courtyard but when I turned around, you had disappeared! Thor was giggling but he remained loyal to you and betrayed nothing. I got rather annoyed and you suddenly peeked out from behind a statue, poking you tongue out at me. I told you something about respect or obedience and turned around to continue walking, but when I did, there you were again! Right in front of me, sticking your tongue out and making faces. Yet there you were behind me! I thought I was losing my mind until the 'you' in front of me disappeared before my eyes. I was annoyed at your prank-pulling… and I was so, incredibly, beyond-all-my-words, proud of you. Immeasurably proud of you, Loki. I knew you would do great things. And I was so proud that you were a boy I could call my own son."

Loki needed many minutes of silence to absorb this information. His heart welled up beyond all capacity he thought it capable, as he realised that Odin had always cared for him. It amazed him that a seemingly normal childhood anecdote could mean so much to him. And it did; it meant the world to him.

"Th-thank you, father," he managed a watery smile at Odin who smiled warmly back.

"Thank _you_, Loki," Odin said back, gently patting Loki's hand. "Your family look forward to you returning to the palace when you are healed."

And with that, Loki was left alone, his very being radiating contentment.

Utter contentment, apart from one very small but very powerful part of him; that small part was consumed with guilt. Loki might have been accepted back into the fold of Asgard, but there was another race whom Loki had wronged greatly. He had killed and enslaved and subjugated some of these people. He owed them an apology, a proper one.

Odin believed that Loki was not yet fully healed, but the truth was, Loki could use his magic to strengthen himself in the next few days, a bit at a time. And then he would make his move; in order to make peace with himself, he had to make peace with the Midgardians.

Loki began planning his secret trip to Earth, unaware of the danger he would be putting himself in…


	10. Chapter 10

"Brother, you are beginning to look like your old self again!" Thor cried in delight as he watched Loki wolf down the largest meal he had eaten since his return to Asgard.

"Suave and handsome?" Loki quipped wryly through a mouthful of succulent roast pork.

"Something like that," chuckled Thor.

Loki was looking more and more healthy as the days went by. He had been required to eat tiny and soft portions of food since his rescue from Thanos, due to his shrunken stomach and emaciated frame, but now he was eating full, rich meals again and he had been spending his day's horse riding and building the strength of his newly restored magic. This new regime had brought back some of the muscle definition in his chest and arms and his skin now had an ethereal, pale glow instead of the sickly pallor he had attained during his imprisonment.

Loki had spent the week with his family, acclimatising himself to the warm, familial atmosphere and realising that it was easier than he expected to pick up his role as the youngest member to the All-Father's dynasty, the son and the brother. Loki took pleasure in the lack of responsibilities he was expected to fulfil and often sat with Thor in his chambers when Thor was planning how to handle the disputes and dilemmas of his subjects in preparation for his eventual coronation. Loki would observe the way his brother often buried his head in his hands and sighed heavily, drinking goblets of wine to cope with the stress of serious power and the expectations it forced upon the bearer.

"What news do you have of the Avengers?" Loki asked Thor once he had finished his filling meal.

"I have been to Heimdall to ask what he could see of them on Midgard," Thor replied, "and he said that they are confident that the threat Thanos presented has been quelled. They do, however, remain vigilant and prepared. Why do you ask, Loki?"

"Oh, I was merely curious," Loki lied, the words sounding smooth and confident despite the flustered nervousness Loki was feeling.

"Well, you need not worry yourself about such things, Loki. You know that nothing will harm you here?" Thor said seriously.

"I know, Thor," Loki said, although he averted his eyes which had clouded over with the darkness of his memories.

"You have not spoken much about your imprisonment; not since you spoke with Father last week. How are you, brother?" concern was heavy in Thor's voice. This had obviously been playing on his mind for some time.

Loki did not answer straight away; he was not sure what to say and he didn't want to lie to Thor. Loki had healed each and every one of his physical wounds, the scars and the fresh lacerations, and his external appearance was one of utmost health and power. He had reverted his image to the one he had inhabited before his downward spiral began; his hair was as short as it had been before Thor invaded Jötunheimr and been banished by Odin to Midgard and he had recovered his old clothes, the armour that had a golden and more noble sheen than his more recent, more aggressive "invasion" outfit. He looked like a handsome Odinson once more. However, his outward appearance bore no semblance of his inner feelings, the ones he harboured deep in his soul, beneath the happiness he felt to be back with his family.

Every night he saw the faces of the Tiphus who had tortured him mercilessly. He saw Thanos laughing at him from atop his nightmarish, black throne. He saw the _other _Thor. Not only did he see these things, he swore he could feel them. He would wake up, sweating, convinced he was bleeding to death from where his chest had been sliced and burned and stabbed. These waking nightmares were similar to the imagined torture he was put through every night in that pitch black cell where he would go through the most unimaginable horrors, only to be removed the next morning by his captors and shown that it was all just inside his mind.

Loki didn't dare to wipe his memories clean, however. He had more than enough power to be able to remove all the thoughts that troubled and disturbed him permanently, but he couldn't quite bring himself to.

What if the torture had changed him for the better? He had hated himself and his family with such a force that he had become violent and power-hungry, but now he felt grateful and _happy_ to be with those he had denounced so thoroughly. The Tiphus had unintentionally made him this way and he did not want to risk undoing all their hard work.

The one memory he wanted to remove was that of the other Thor, the Thor who hurt him; truly hurt him. Every time Loki attempted to access the memories in order to eradicate them, he would find himself passing out from the ingrained trauma of the abuse and he awoke each time, retching and sobbing. Loki knew he would have to wait for this memory to fade away naturally, without his magic.

* * *

Loki paced about his chambers. It was early, far too early for most of the house of Odin to have awoken and the corridors of the palace were full of a peaceful calm. Loki, however, was a nervous ball of energy, a force of pure apprehension, as he walked back and forth next to his bed. Today was the day he would transport himself to Midgard to make his peace with the humans. His magic was strong enough but his resilience was waning; he desperately wanted to prove his new good intentions to the people of Earth, but the thought of leaving the safety of Asgard terrified him. The trauma of his suffering was carved deep inside his mind and he had developed a fear of straying too far from the comfort of his home and the familiar faces within it.

Steeling himself from his fears, he felt his magic creep throughout his limbs and form a cocoon around him. His subconscious and the guilt within it were forcing him to teleport to Midgard; he let it. The ground fell away from his feet and Loki closed his eyes as he felt himself move from one world to another. When he opened his eyes, he would be in Midgard once more.

Shouts of shock and horror erupted around him. Loki opened his eyes slowly. His sunconcious had prompted him to teleport into a familiar scenario; he was amongst S.H.I.E.L.D agents in the base of their operations and he was standing atop some kind of platform, watching as humans rushed away from him in fear and some kind of alarm howled all around him.

"You goddam son-of-a-bitch," said a calm, cool voice behind him.

Loki spun around to see the man known as Nick Fury standing behind him, holding the weapon that had been built in the image of the Destroyer and living up to his namesake. Loki raised his hands in surrender and tried to make his face as impassive as possible.

"I mean you no harm, Fury," Loki said, debating in his mind as to whether he should smile or not.

"Damn right you mean no harm. Move," Fury barked, gesturing down a corridor with the enormous gun. "Move!"

Loki did as he was told. He couldn't help but regret his arrival on earth; it had been just as before, when he had been teleported here by the Tesseract, standing upon a platform above the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The only difference was his intentions; no one would suffer during his second trip to earth. Loki didn't count on himself being the exception to this rule.

Fury escorted Loki to a similar looking cell as he had been held in last time by S.H.I.E.L.D, only this one had a large metal chair with arm and leg restraints sitting right in the centre. The imposing man had been reassuring other agents over a communication device, telling them that the 'threat had been secured and contained'.

"We had this custom built in case anyone of your calibre showed up again. Inside, now," Fury commanded, not removing the gun's aim from the back of Loki's head.

"As you wish," Loki said evenly and stepped inside the cell. It was smaller than it had looked on the outside.

"Si'down," Fury said and Loki humoured him whilst he continued, gesturing with the gun, "Put your arms and legs here, and here."

Loki looked up at fury with a face that could not mask how indignant he felt. Suddenly there were other guards in the room, all dressed in black with hefty firearms at their sides. They held Loki's limbs in place as Fury exited the cell and pressed a large red button on a control panel that made the metal clamp-like restraints of the chair snap over Loki's wrists and ankles. Fury smirked at Loki as the other S.H.I.E.L.D guards left the cell, convinced that he had secured the supposed threat of the visiting God.

Loki waited until Fury had operated a series of complicated controls that made the door of the tiny cell hiss and click and whir shut, locking it with an impenetrable amount of mechanics, before he used his magic to spring open the restraints from his body. He rubbed his slightly chafed wrists as Fury gawped at him from the other side of the thick, glass wall.

"What the…" the one-eyed man muttered in disbelief, trying to get a better look at his prisoner.

Loki leaned forward in the chair and delicately touched his chest with a splayed hand, merely saying, "God."

Fury swore under his breath and looked genuinely concerned, but Loki had to restrain his urge to become angry; since his last imprisonment, Loki never wanted to feel helpless or bound ever again as he knew the terrible vulnerability and danger it could bring. He did not appreciate Fury trying to bind him. Loki hadn't expected the humans to celebrate his return but he had declared himself no threat yet Fury had still locked him up instantly. It angered Loki, but he knew he was here to make peace; he would have to take the cell with a pinch of salt.

"Fury, I will not leave this cell, if that is what you wish – though I am entirely capable of doing so – but I will not be tied to a chair like a common criminal," Loki said calmly. "I will say this again; I mean you no threat. I am here to make amends for what I did to your people the last time I was on earth. I feel nothing but regret for what I have done."

Fury smiled after a moment's pause and Loki felt hopeful that he would be given his chance to prove his new-found virtue. Fury walked slowly towards the glass of the cell until his breath left little clouds on its surface.

"Nice try," he smiled slowly, before raising his communication device and speaking into it, his eyes never leaving Loki's. "This is Fury. We're going to need the bring out the Goat herd. Yes, _that_ thing_._

Well, why do you think? Yes, we have the goat. Just… get the Goat herd."

Loki rolled his eyes as he sat upon the not-particularly comfortable chair. He would have to be patient if he wanted his redemption. He waited quietly to see what the 'Goat herd' could possibly be.

Three long and drawn out hours later, the Goat herd was escorted to Loki's cell by the smug-looking Fury. Loki felt his mouth drop open as he realized what – or rather 'who' – S.H.I.E.L.D's anti-Loki device was…


	11. Chapter 11

"Oh you've got to be kidding me. Seriously? This was _seriously_ a big enough threat to call me out here? Do you know what I was doing just now? I was eating a steak. A medium-rare steak. With my beautiful girlfriend – you know that steak is an aphrodisiac, right? To some women… And I get a code-red call. For _this? _Really, Fury? _Really?_"

"This _is_ a threat," Fury replied through gritted teeth. "In case you hadn't noticed, the man in front of you tried to destroy New York City, and he almost succeeded. You don't think this is a code red, Stark?"

Loki had lost control of his face. His eyes were laughably wide and his mouth hung open stupidly. He had been lazily lounging back in the cold metal chair when he had seen the figure of Fury and someone else striding down the corridor towards his cell. As the figures got closer, Loki had recognised the other man; Tony Stark.

"Yeah, he looks real threatening," Stark said sardonically to Fury, before turning to address Loki. "Close your mouth, kid, you'll catch flies like that."

Loki did as he was told but he continued to stare in disbelief at the man with the machine where his heart should be. His disbelief turned into smirking humour; if Loki _had_ been here to cause trouble once more and S.H.I.E.L.D wheeled out Tony Stark to stop him, he would have crushed them all into the ground with ease.

"Oh, and Fury, let's not use the name 'Goat herd' for this thing, OK? I don't want people thinking of a bearded old guy on top of a mountain when they think of Tony Stark," Stark said, before theatrically whispering to Fury, "It was the horns on his helmet, wasn't it?"

Fury offered a terse nod and Loki felt himself almost blush with embarrassment. He was incredibly glad he had left his helmet in Asgard, seeing as it made him such a figure of ridicule.

"I need you to bring out Project Goa – Project, uh, _Bad God_. It is ready, isn't it, Stark?" Fury continued.

"Of course it's ready, it was basically ready the day after the Chitauri attacked NYC. Are you sure we need it?" Stark asked earnestly.

"Agent Coulson," Fury replied simply. He turned to face Loki and his eyes burned with anger. Loki had to turn his head and avoid Fury's gaze, so much was its seething passion.

Stark didn't say anything, but he also turned to regard Loki as if he was studying an insect in a jar. The last time Tony Stark had seen Loki was on that day a few weeks ago when Thor had flown into Stark Towers with a bloodied and bound Loki in his arms, the God of Mischief looking about as threatening as a frightened and injured deer. This obviously did not pardon Loki from his crimes, but Tony found it difficult to think of this man as a real menace, not now he had seen him completely and utterly debased as he was that day. However, Fury had ordered it and Stark didn't have much of a choice. As he went to retrieve his creation, he tried to fill his mind with images of a dying Coulson and the way Loki had looked when he threw Tony from the very high windows of Stark Towers…

Loki watched Stark leave the area, struggling not to strain his neck to see where he had gone.

"What is exactly is _Project Bad God?_" He asked, trying to sound merely curious.

"Do you remember Agent Coulson? You stabbed him through the chest," Fury's voice was calm but it dripped with something powerful and dangerous.

Loki did indeed remember the one they called Coulson. He could see himself forcing the sceptre through his heart and he could see the way his own face contorted with rage as he fatally wounded the mortal man.

"I'm sorry," Loki said, knowing there was no way he could make it sound as truthful as he wanted it to. He did not remember each and every one of the humans he had killed, but when he saw the anguish in Fury's eyes, he was harshly reminded that each and every one of those humans had a life; each of them had family and friends and they were torn away from their loved ones as a result of Loki's quest for power. It was a hard concept for Loki to process and he felt as if his guilt would drown him. This Agent Coulson was obviously missed by his colleagues but Loki could do nothing but apologise to make up for his terrible crimes.

"No, you're not sorry," Fury said shortly, "but you will be. You'll meet Coulson's replacement soon enough. He has a real short temper and I know he'll want to have a good, long talk with you about how you treat humans."

The glint in Fury's eyes unnerved Loki. Was there no way Loki could convince this man that this visit to Midgard had no ulterior motives?

Stark was making his way back towards Loki's cell. He didn't seem to be holding anything and Loki was hopeful that Project Bad God might not be as ominous as it sounded; he wanted to believe that he had some semblance of a friend in Stark, or at least a familiar face he could trust not to hurt him.

Stark muttered something to Fury that Loki did not hear but within moments the complicated locks of the cell door were clicking open. Stark stepped inside the cell, looking everywhere else except Loki's eyes. He was flanked by two S.H.I.E.L.D guards in heavy armoured outfits, the kind of gear someone would wear if they were handling a ticking bomb. Loki rose from his chair and stood tall and straight. Stark came to a stop in front of him and finally looked Loki in the eyes. Loki raised his hand slowly and offered it to Stark to shake.

"Stark," Loki greeted his once-enemy, "I would like to apologise for everything I did the last time I was on your planet. I'm sorry."

The earnestness of his apology penetrated Stark's wariness and he accepted Loki's handshake.

"I kind of wish you'd kept the lovey-dovey stuff to yourself there, buddy," Stark said with a hint of sadness in his voice. "It makes this next part so much harder."

Stark produced a small mechanical-looking syringe from his pocket. It looked innocuous enough, apart from the tip of the device which formed a square of razor sharp blades.

"What is that?" Loki said with more than a hint of dread in his voice.

"Please, turn around," Stark said with a sigh.

"I'm not doing anything until you tell me what that object is," Loki said. His eyes widened with fear and his hands gripped the edges of his chair.

"Well, you're a powerful guy, you don't need to be here. You could take all of us down, surely?" Stark said, staring Loki right in the eyes. It was a test; he was testing Loki's claims of reform but Loki would not be baited into harming another human being.

Swallowing his fear, Loki turned round. He flinched slightly as he felt a hand on the back of his neck, brushing the ends of his hair to the side in order to access his skin. Loki heard Stark mutter '_one, two, three_' under his breath and suddenly he felt a stabbing pain in the back of his neck; presumably, the device Stark had been holding was now plunged into his flesh. There was a slight pressure on top of the pain as Stark injected whatever was in the device into Loki, lodging it uncomfortably under his skin. Loki felt a trickle of blood run down the back of his clothes and his hand instinctively reached up to touch the fresh wound. However just as his hand was almost on his skin, Loki dropped to his knees and let out a scream; whatever was in his neck was sending uneven and jolting shocks through his body and he convulsed on his hands and knees, gasping in pain. After a few minutes of the agony, the jolts subsided until they were just throbbing pulses under his skin. Loki weakly clambered to his feet, but he was so unstable, Stark reached out a hand to steady him.

"What have you done to me?" Loki asked, panting heavily but gladly resting some of his weight on Starks shoulder.

"It was something I created when you left here," Stark said, seeming ashamed, "when you _first_ left here, that is."

"Please," Loki gasped. He raised his big green eyes to look in Stark's, his eyebrows knitted together in worry, "what is it?"

"I'm sorry," Stark said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He didn't seem to be happy with what he had just done.

Stark gently pushed Loki away and left the cell. He carried on walking, ignoring the beaming Fury who congratulated him, until he was out of sight. Loki was left swaying on his feet with the two burly guards. Fury gave them an encouraging nod and they converged on Loki; he didn't much mind them manhandling him into the seat and even if he did, he was far too weak to fight back. He felt totally drained_._

When he had been fully locked into the restraints of the chair, the guards left and the door was securely locked once more. Only Fury remained, smiling at Loki through the glass.

Loki tried to breathe deeply and focus his thoughts; he needed to think past the slightly nauseating pulses that were throbbing through his body in order to access his magic, but his mind was overwhelmed by the uncomfortable feeling in his limbs. He just couldn't concentrate enough to summon his powers.

Every time Loki tried to focus his strength, preparing to feel that lightness in his fingertips before using it to pop open the bindings of the chair, there was nothing; he felt empty. The metal on his wrists and ankles was starting to feel cloying and far too restrictive and panic rose in Loki's thoughts.

Against his own better judgements, he tried to tug his hands free but only succeeded in making the restraints feel tighter somehow. Fury stood sadistically watching Loki struggle.

"Stark outdid himself with this," Fury chuckled to himself. "That chip in your neck is interrupting your brainwaves, Loki. Must feel horrible."

"Look, this is absolutely unnecessary. I – I – really, I am not here to hurt anyone. You don't need to do this," Loki stuttered. He felt sick, even more so with the knowledge of something foreign interfering with his own mind.

"Why should I believe you? The last time you were in my custody you tried to kill everyone on board my ship and you succeeded in many cases. You are a manipulative, lying, deranged bastard and I wouldn't trust a single hair on that greasy head of yours," Fury near bellowed, unable to contain his vengeful hatred of Loki any longer. "You get some rest, now. Coulson's replacement will be here to see you in the morning. His name is Agent Karson. I suggest you remember that, he really is a stickler for discipline."

And with that, Fury turned on his heel and stalked away down the long, white corridor, flicking a switch on a boxy control panel as he walked. Loki was plunged into darkness, the only light coming from the eerie, faint blue glow of the edges of his cell.

The darkness threw Loki into a frenzied state of fear as he was thrown back into his memories of being amongst the Tiphus and the nightmare existence they created for him. He bruised his wrists and ankles from trying to tug his limbs free from the solid, unyielding metal and he shouted into the darkness.

"Please, please, don't leave me like this!"

* * *

**A/N: Uh ooooh, it's all gone tits up for Loki again! I couldn't wait to get this next chapter out, that cliff hanger in the last bit was pretty mean… As ever, thanks for the lovely reviews and I'm really sorry about the typos and silly grammar mistakes in some of these chapters – I will try to proof read more. Anyway, don't hate Fury too much for being nasty to Loki, he kind of had good reason to and he doesn't know about poor Loki's bad times. Next chapter will be soon and it will have a nasty new character, Agent Karson. He's not as evil as Thanos, but he is still a first-class dick. Read, review and enjoy!**


	12. Chapter 12

Thor sat amongst the ruins of the banquet hall. Tables lay broken and in several pieces on the floor. Food splattered the walls and floor amongst the shards of shattered crockery it had lain on. Large pools of wine covered the floor like blood. It could have been the scene of a terrible, life-endangering battle; but it was in fact the result of Thor's shock and worry. Now he sat, head in hands and hot tears running down his cheeks, occasionally cursing himself for letting this happen. He didn't notice his father walking calmly into the room.

"Thor, you must learn to control your temper," Odin said softly, waking Thor from his anguished trance.

"Father, I don't understand," Thor said thickly, "what if he has been taken again and we just let it happen?"

"What has already happened cannot be helped, Thor. You must look only forward if you want to help your brother," Odin said thoughtfully, his aged wisdom, once again, not failing to inspire.

Thor looked up from his inconsolable tears.

"Look forward…" Thor muttered, his mind buzzing with plans and thoughts of where his brother could be.

Thor closed his eyes and tried to listen hard in his mind, to see if he could hear anything of Loki. He had explained to Odin the way in which he seemed to have visions of Loki's suffering when he was captured by Thanos, but even the All-Father had been unable to fully explain the phenomenon.

"You are brothers," he had said with a shrug, but Thor had still felt comforted by this simple explanation.

Now, however, his mind filled with a buzzing silence. It wasn't quite _nothing_, but it wasn't an identifiable sound either; his mind was filled with a gap where something should be and it was a terrible, throbbing silence. Thor had to remove himself from his thoughts before he truly frightened himself.

"I'm going to see Heimdall," Thor declared, standing up with majestic purpose. He still, however, stole a glance of his father to see if there was a look of approval on his face.

Odin smiled at his son and gave a small nod. Thor marched off resolutely, determined that he would find his brother and return him to safety.

* * *

Sudden, blinding white light filled Loki's cell, waking him from his fitful sleep. He elicited a soft 'Oh!' of surprise and had to squint his eyes to adjust to the assaulting brightness. Everything seemed doused in a white, almost-heavenly glow until Loki's sensitive eyes adjusted to the light and the plain, militant environment of his prison was revealed. Loki looked down at himself and saw his aching, bruised wrists secured in the tight metal bands of his chair. His wrists had swollen slightly from where he had resisted the restraints so forcefully and now they chafed painfully in the manacles.

Loki was hungry and uncomfortable; his back and neck hurt from sleeping hunched over all night and his physical discomfort mirrored his feelings of internal foreboding. However no one appeared for at least ten more minutes and Loki dared not call out for fear of what it might bring about. After an uneasy length of time, Loki heard footsteps coming down the corridor towards his cell and saw the man they belonged to.

He had pale blond hair that sat atop a wide and chiselled face. His expression had no hint of emotion as his features all appeared cold and resolute; hard, stony eyes and a mouth that was set in a firm line. He was unreadable. His pristine and immaculately-cut suit only added to his reticent image.

The man came to a stop in front of Loki's cell and observed him through the glass, his head cocking to the side slightly as he stared at the slumped and cagey-looking figure inside.

"My name is Agent Karson and I'm here to ask you a few questions," Karson introduced himself, but still he gave nothing away.

Loki tried to greet the man, to get off on the right foot, but his voice was hoarse and the word came out as a strangled noise that Loki nervously turned into a cough.

Karson pressed a series of buttons that unlocked the secure door of Loki's cell, before effortlessly picking up a simple office chair and carrying it with him inside the cell. He set it down slightly behind and to the left of Loki and the lack of extra room in the tiny cell made the atmosphere stiflingly close. Karson sat down and Loki tried to remain strong, his body tense as he tried not to turn around to see the man sitting unnervingly out of his eye line.

"Why are you here, Loki?" Karson said quietly but menacingly.

Loki cleared his throat and tried to relax his body.

"I came to Midga– to Earth in order to apologise for the destruction I caused the last time I was on your planet," Loki said in an almost-calm voice.

"You came to Earth to apologise?" Karson repeated in a slightly taunting way but he did not expand on it.

"Yes. I just want to make amends with your people. I feel terrible about what I did," Loki admitted.

"You feel terrible about what you did?" Karson said. His parroting of Loki's words was in equal parts annoying and unsettling.

"Yes, I do," Loki said, remaining calm; this was a far easier interrogation compared to what he had faced in the past.

"What made you change your ways, hmm?" Karson said patronisingly.

"I- I went through something that made me think differently. I suppose it was a taste of my own medicine, of sorts…" Loki replied quietly.

"What happened?" Karson asked in a not-at-all caring voice.

"I would rather not talk about it. All you need to know is that I am not-"

"Tell me what happened!" Karson yelled, interrupting Loki and leaning in so close, Loki could feel his breath on the side of his face. He recoiled from the intrusion.

"No! It does not matter what I went through! I am not the same being that I was!" Loki yelped, more in shock than a desire to answer the agent.

Karson remained close and Loki could hear a strange heavy sound as the agent seemed to be handling something, turning a weighty object over in his hands. Loki could not think of what the object must be but whatever it was, it gave him a gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"What happened?" Karson repeated, almost whispering.

"No," Loki replied softly. He did not want to be intimidated by this man; he did not see how the knowledge of his suffering would benefit this man.

"Why are you here?" Karson asked again. These questions were becoming infuriating.

"To apologise," Loki said, sighing. He was growing agitated and his body ached from the dull pulsating of the chip in his neck, intruding on his brain's functions.

"You're lying. What's the plan? Are you going to try and destroy Manhattan again?" Karson accused spitefully. "Going to try and make yourself a king?"

"No, no, not at all," Loki shook his head wearily.

"Stop lying to me!" Karson bellowed suddenly.

Loki finally craned his neck round in order to look at his interrogator.

"I'm not lying!" Loki urged but his intensity waned as he looked down and saw what Karson was holding; it was a large, grey gun. It was fully loaded.

Loki gulped. His magic was being forcefully restricted but Loki was still an immortal; he would not die from a gunshot but it would hurt him, a lot. Karson rose from his chair and slowly walked around until he was standing in front of Loki, brandishing his weapon. He bent down slightly so he could press the muzzle of the gun into Loki's prominent collar bone.

"Release yourself from the chair," Karson commanded with a slight smile. When he saw the confused and frightened look in Loki's eyes, he spoke in a slower, quieter voice, "Use your magic to free yourself."

"I can't," Loki hissed under his breath.

Karson stared at Loki and cocked the gun threateningly.

"I thought you were a God? Do it, free yourself" Karson said in a voice dripping with menace.

Despite his awareness that this wouldn't work, Loki still tried to focus his thoughts to reach his magic. The strain caused a single drop of sweat to slide down his forehead. Nothing happened, as he knew it would not and Loki was left panting from the exertion.

"I _can't_," Loki gasped.

"You need to stop lying, Loki. This is going to be very difficult if you don't tell me the truth…" Karson said in a mock-soothing tone.

"Please, I swear to you I'm not lying. There is a _chip_ in my neck, it's controlling my powers! Talk to Tony Stark, he created it!" Loki begged, leaning as far forward in his chair as his restraints would allow.

Karson said nothing but he removed the gun from Loki's skin, causing him to sag slightly in his chair with relief.

"Thank you," Loki breathed with genuine gratitude. Perhaps Karson did not know how cruel he was being in ordering Loki to do something that was impossible.

"So, you are saying you have been reduced to the status of a lowly human?" Karson asked, innocently enough. Loki said nothing. "A powerful and great _King_ once said that humans were meant to be ruled. That they crave subjugation. Do you agree?"

Loki recognised his own misguided words. Karson was spinning a treacherous web of words and Loki was stuck in the middle.

"I do not agree. I believe that King you speak off was entirely wrong," Loki said reasonably.

"Oh, no, he was very, very right. An now you don't have to worry anymore, Loki, in my care you can think of yourself as completely and utterly subjugated. You don't have to move or talk or worry yourself about a thing," Karson said in a friendly enough manner but there was an obvious malevolent glint in his eyes.

"What do you want from me?" Loki asked anxiously. This man's strange method was neither here nor there and Loki was thoroughly disconcerted; this whole situation was becoming more and more asphyxiating now that Loki was unable to remove himself from it. He saw Thor in his mind's eye and bitterly regretted leaving Asgard.

Karson walked out of the cell and scooped up a small grey object from a draw in a desk before strolling casually back into the cell. The thing he held was some kind of shiny, grey roll and when he pulled a bit of it, a wide yet thin strip of sticky-looking material stretched out with an abrasive snap.

"Shut your mouth," Karson commanded and Loki obeyed unthinkingly.

Karson tore the strip of the material from the roll and suddenly pressed it over Loki's lips. He jerked his head back, but it was too late; the vile material stuck to his mouth, sealing his lips shit and forcing Loki to breathe through his nose. He frowned up at Karson who smiled right back at him, baring a row of shiny, white teeth. He reached out a hand to seize Loki's chin and tilt his head up beyond a point of comfort.

"You just sit right here and enjoy the feeling of being a helpless little human being, you sick fuck," Karson whispered viciously. He released Loki's chin and Loki jerked his head away defiantly with a muffled grunt, eyes narrowed with resentment.

Karson chuckled and patted Loki on the cheek in a demeaning way. The cell was locked when Karson left and the lights were switched off, plunging Loki into the engulfing darkness once more.

Loki felt overwhelmed with anger; he had expected to be treated as a prisoner on earth, he was prepared to accept it for the crimes he had committed but this was just cruel and sadistic! Agent Karson was punishing him above and beyond what was acceptable and the unpleasant treatment had planted a seed of hatred in Loki's head. The throbbing of the chip in his neck was warping and twisting his thoughts; Loki couldn't think straight and he felt confused yet consumed by a devastating resentment of the humans he had been so determined to apologise to.

* * *

"So, you have not seen him?" Thor asked, his brows knitted together as he tried to understand what Heimdall was telling him.

"I cannot trace Loki's location. When I look for him, I see only a blank space and silence. He is not there, yet I sense it is the place where he _should_ be," Heimdall said unwaveringly. If he was puzzled by what he saw, he certainly wasn't letting it show.

"This makes no sense to me, Heimdall," Thor said in frustration.

"Nor does it make sense to me, Your Highness. I will continue to search for your brother, if that is what you wish," Heimdall replied and Thor was grateful for the loyalty of this man.

He nodded and thanked Heimdall before stalking away, leaving the formidable figure of the Sentry of Asgard standing on the shattered remains of the Bifrost.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you guys are happy with the way the story is going! What do you think of Agent Karson? More to come soon…**


	13. Chapter 13

Tony Stark visited Loki after over twelve torturous hours alone in the dark. Loki slept fitfully in the sturdy chair he was strapped to, waking up regularly whenever he thought he was being suffocated by the awful, sticky strip on his mouth. He had never known anything so maddening in his life. The worst thing about the gag was the familiar feeling it induced in Loki; it took him back to the painful entrapments of the Tiphus' creation and the complete helplessness he had felt. He had to keep taking in huge, calming breaths through his nose to relax himself but he still ended up groaning loudly in frustration.

And then Tony Stark turned up. He was carrying a bottle of water and what looked like a small sandwich. Stark entered the code into the control panel that opened the heavy doors of Loki's cell and stepped inside. He looked down at Loki with a conflicted expression, as though he was wrestling with his conscience and the duty he was bound to. Loki merely stared plaintively back at him. He knelt down by Loki's chair and gently reached up to grip the edge of the duct tape on his mouth and tore it off in one swift motion.

"Ahh!" Loki gasped in pain and licked his raw lips, his expression undeniably wounded. "I thought you people were meant to be merciful and fair."

"Well, unfortunately for you, S.H.I.E.L.D is its own beast. I have no say in how they conduct their business," Tony sighed, bringing the bottle of water to Loki's lips. Loki drank appreciatively.

"Thank you," he muttered when he had had his fill and waited for Tony to say what was clearly on his mind.

"They're not treating you fairly," Stark said. It was more a statement than a question but he still waited for Loki to agree.

"They are treating me like an _animal_," Loki said, leaning forward in his seat as his voice conveyed his distress. "I know I did many terrible things, but I don't deserve this! You have to help me, Stark."

"I am helping you. I've brought you food," Stark said, raising the sandwich he was touting. Loki tried to ignore the irresistible smell that wafted from the snack.

"Make them release me, take this _thing_ out of my neck, give me a fair trial! Just get me out of this place!" Loki fought not to shout as he strained against his restraints.

"I can't do that, Loki. It's out of my hands," Stark said apologetically.

"Put that suit of yours on! _Make _them do what you want, you have the power!" Loki urged.

"You're making it really hard to defend you, man. Is that what _you_ would do? Try and control these people with force?" Tony said, frustration rife in his words.

"Yes! No- I don't know! This isn't about what I would do. You know what they're doing to me is wrong – I believe Agent Karson has no qualms about harming me! You can't let them torture me like this!" the pain in Loki's voice made Stark's eyes widen and his mouth purse with concern. He scratched his beard and rubbed his eyes, tics that betrayed his mounting stress.

"That day when Thor brought you to my home – I've never seen someone look so beat-up. What happened to you?" Stark asked, forcing Loki to maintain his eye contact.

"I was abducted from Asgardian custody by Thanos," Loki said with a laboured sigh. He didn't particularly want to share his story with this man but he suspected that the added sympathy would play in his favour. "They tortured me. They tried to extract information about the Avengers from me and when I didn't talk, they tortured me more. I almost died."

"Jesus," Stark breathed, shocked. His eyes fluttered over Loki's face, reading his expression, and he seemed to be satisfied that he was telling the truth. "Why in God's name did you come back to earth?"

"I really do want to make amends for what I did," Loki said, before his eyes darkened slightly, "or at least I did, before I saw how some humans treat their defenceless prisoners…"

"When you go and say stuff like that, it really makes me reluctant to help you; you know that they're only treating you like this because _you killed people_. You threatened the safety of humanity and as far as these guys can tell, you are still that power-hungry villain. I can see a change in you because I am particularly perceptive and intelligent, but not everyone is going to be so trusting," Stark said and Loki was unable to fault his reasoning.

"I know," he said resignedly, "but this isn't right and you know it."

"I do know it. I promise I'll do what I can to get you out of here, but in the mean time you have to make sure you don't piss these guys off. Tell them the truth and I'm sure they'll go easy on you. Now, are you hungry?"

Loki nodded miserably and didn't bother trying to tell Stark that he had no intention of not telling Karson the truth and he doubted that it would help anyway. Instead, he allowed Stark to feed him bites of the surprisingly tasty sandwich he had, gratefully filling his empty stomach. Stark gave him a little more water and prepared to leave the cell.

"Don't gag me," Loki blurted out as Stark stood up.

"I wasn't planning to," Stark said softly. He made a move as if to pat Loki comfortingly on the shoulder but seemed to decide against it at the last moment.

Once he left, Loki bowed his head and allowed a couple of hopeless tears to fall from his eyes. He lamented his freedom. He shed grateful tears for the small mercies Stark showed him, quietly happy that he had someone looking out for him. He wept for his own sanity and the conflicting feelings of wanting to atone and the burning hatred that filled him with the desire to exact revenge on those who were putting him through this pointless suffering.

When he closed his eyes he dreamt that the corridors of the building were running red with the blood of Karson and Fury and everyone else who worked for S.H.I.E.L.D.

* * *

Tony needed to see the two most loyal and rational men he knew to explain the dilemma that was dragging his thoughts down. He alerted two of the most capable members of the Avengers and arranged to meet them in a top secret location.

A jazz bar in downtown Manhattan.

Bruce Banner and Steve Rogers were already sitting in a quiet corner of the dimly lit bar, swigging beers, deep in serious conversation. Tony sat himself down in the booth next to Bruce, over half an hour late. He ordered a double whisky, on the rocks with a twist, and offered the young waitress a sly wink, causing Bruce and Steve to raise their eyebrows at him.

"So, what did you need to talk to us about?" Steve asked, cutting to the chase immediately.

"Oh, yeah, I'm great, thanks for asking. I trust you're both doing OK? Fantastic," Tony said dryly. "Right, now the pleasantries are out the way, let's get to the juicy stuff; You remember a distinctly horned Norse God? Big green cape and a whole mess of daddy issues?"

"Loki," Bruce declared, his face tightening with the stress of what this meant.

"Bingo," Tony said snapping his fingers and taking a decent slug of his whisky, which the young red-haired waitress had delivered with a flirtatious smile.

His drinking companions regarded him with dour faces.

"So, what's the damage?" Steve asked, determined to be proactive. He was so methodical and thoughtful; if there was a problem to be solved Steve Rogers had only the desire to help in every way he could.

"What does he want?" Bruce added in his calm and attentive voice.

"That's just the thing, guys. Loki is in S.H.I.E.L.D's custody and he doesn't seem to be posing any sort of threat. Fury made me implant the chip in him," Tony explained, leaning across the table in his eagerness to reach his cohorts.

"Did it work?" Bruce said excitedly; he had helped Tony to develop the technology designed to prevent malevolent beings from using their magic and he was keen to know if they had been successful in their designs.

"It works better than expected. In fact, it's too good," Tony said, gesturing to the smitten waitress for another round of drinks.

"Explain, Stark," Steve ordered immediately.

"You remember how bat-shit crazy Loki was? How completely deluded, as mad as a bag of cats?" Tony asked theatrically. Steve and Bruce both nodded knowingly, no doubt remembering Loki's senseless attack on New York. "Well, he's basically unrecognisable now."

Steve and Bruce leaned forward at the same time, both equally intrigued.

"You remember how he was when Thor brought him to Stark Towers a couple of weeks ago?" Tony continued.

"Yeah, he was – just broken," Bruce said compassionately. He remembered Loki's bloodied and battered frame lying in his arms with crystal-clear precision. It had disturbed him greatly to see a being of such great power in such a state.

"What happened to him?" Steve asked.

"Thanos happened to him," Stark said, putting heavy emphasis on the seriousness of the statement. "He kidnapped Loki from Asgard and tortured him. And we know better than most that Thanos does not fuck about with torture, tight? Apparently Thanos was asking Loki about _us_ but he didn't tell him anything. Can you imagine what Thanos must have done to him?"

Bruce and Steve were silent with shock, taking in the almost-unbelievable information about their former-enemies' suffering.

"Woah," Bruce muttered, "I would never have predicted that."

"Are we sure he's not lying?" Steve suggested uncertainly.

"I know he's got a terrible track record, but I am positive he's telling the truth now. You should see him now, he definitely looks like he's suffering from PTSD," Tony remarked, finishing his second drink with ease.

"What's _Petey Essdy_?" Steve asked firmly.

"P-T-S-D. Post-traumatic stress disorder. People usually suffer from it after going through something pretty harrowing; flashbacks, nightmares, that kind of thing. Would've thought you'd be an expert on it, _Captain_…" Tony muttered.

"So, Loki's not a threat. What's the problem then, Tony?" Bruce asked.

"S.H.I.E.L.D are treating him horribly. Coulson's replacement - Eric Karson - is as much of an asshole as I said he would be. They've got him strapped to a chair in this birdcage of a cell. They don't seem to be feeding him, someone had even taped his mouth shut when I visited him yesterday, for Christ's sake," Tony slammed his palm on the table. Just remembering Loki's inhumane treatment angered him.

"The reason we invented that chip was to render him powerless so they wouldn't need to use restraints on him! That is inexcusable," Bruce seethed, furious that the company he effectively worked for were behaving in such an inexcusable way.

"And Fury's allowing this?" Steve demanded.

"I think he's taking out his frustrations about Coulson out on Loki. I'm not sure if he knows the extent of Loki's treatment but he's definitely turning a blind eye, either way," Tony reasoned, sighing wearily.

"What are we gonna do?" Bruce asked, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully.

"I think the best solution would be to get Loki's brother back here. He could easily remove Loki and he doesn't have to worry about the implications of defying S.H.I.E.L.D," said Tony.

"Are we really going to let S.H.I.E.L.D get away with this? We need to summon Thor to help us? I say we take care of this ourselves," Steve declared, seeming to already have made up his mind.

Bruce and Tony mulled this over; they definitely had the resources to rescue Loki, but was he worth it? Just because he was being treated badly now did not excuse him from his previous transgressions and they would be putting their own freedom on the line to help him. S.H.I.E.L.D were a formidable force to be reckoned with and many people suspected that they even had a strong influence on the government.

It was a matter of logic versus righteousness.

"OK. Let's do it. Let's spring our former enemy out of our current employer's custody," Tony said, raising his latest drink.

"Fine. Alright. Let's do it," Bruce said nonchalantly. He raised his own beer to clink it lightly against Tony's drink.

Steve beamed and joined in the toast; nothing felt better than when he was preparing to save a person, regardless of what they might have done.

"Clint is gonna kill us," Tony joked. "He really hates Loki. Can't think why..."

* * *

"Father, I'm going to return to Midgard," Thor declared to his father who was sitting atop his golden throne.

"Good," Odin boomed, his voice echoing in the great hall. "I was waiting for you to decide this, son."

"I will bring him back to us," Thor vowed stoically, before slipping into a shrewd smile. "Again..."

* * *

Loki woke up in his lonely cell, screaming in terror. Tears were streaming down his face. His violent dreams had scared him beyond belief; a huge part of his consciousness was consumed by a loathing of the humans who imprisoned him, however a small but powerful part of him wanted so badly to reform. His head ached with the feeling that he was being torn apart, into two separate entities, the good versus the evil.

In the confines of his tiny cell, Loki found it easy to imagine himself going insane and losing his grip on everything he held dear.

* * *

**A/N: Let me know if you're happy with how the story is going! All comments are greatly appreciated :) Another update will be coming VERY soon. Let's hope Tony & Steve & Bruce will be successful with their plans for rescuing Loki – I'm not promising anything though…**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I'm sorry if anyone is expecting an end to Loki's torment… but be patient! It will come (eventually) I promise! Anyway, enjoy this next little bit! **

* * *

When Loki finally woke up the next morning, he was shocked that the first thing he saw was Agent Karson sitting directly in front of him, staring blankly at his prisoner. Loki hadn't even heard the door opening or Karson bringing an extra chair into the cell, but he did feel surprisingly alert after his long sleep. Eventually the disturbing dreams in which people were dying at his hands had ceased and he had fallen into a deep, undisturbed rest.

"Good morning," Karson said simply. His face betrayed none of his thoughts and Loki could only imagine the things that were conspiring behind his cold, blue eyes.

"Hello," Loki replied, shifting in his seat. His joints felt cramped and he longed to stand and stretch his body up to the ceiling, relieving the tension.

"You were sound asleep. Do you feel relaxed? Well-rested?" Karson asked, innocently enough.

"Yes," Loki said, trying to act as calm as Karson appeared.

"Good," Karson said softly. He slowly pulled a pair of black leather gloves onto his hands, taking his time in an excruciatingly suspenseful manner. "Would you say have a particularly high pain threshold, Loki?"

Dread settled over Loki like a blanket. He had only recently recovered from more physical torture than he thought he could take and he didn't know how much more he could handle.

"Don't do this," Loki said quickly. He could feel his heart thudding behind his ribs.

"Don't do what?" Karson said, seemingly determined to draw this out for as long as he wanted.

Loki said nothing, not wanting to bait or provoke Karson any more than was necessary. Karson began cracking his knuckles, one by one, and each loud crack made Loki jump in his seat. Karson stood up and placed his chair to one side before straightening his suit and looking down at Loki, his fish in a barrel.

"What do you think I'm going to do to you?" Karson enquired.

"I don't know," Loki said in a hushed, frightened voice. Every emotion was heightened by the stress of having the pulsing chip in his neck.

"Do you want to find out?" Karson said menacingly, smiling in a particularly disconcerting way.

Loki didn't have time to answer before a hard punch landed on his nose. Something clicked out of place and Loki swore in pain as hot blood started to dribble down his face. Karson had broken his nose with the hit. Karson tutted sympathetically and placed his hands on either side of Loki's face, holding him still. Loki tried to struggle but between Karson's strong grip and the heated pain in his face, he was in no condition to resist.

"Yep, definitely broken. We wouldn't want it to heal like that, would we?" Karson said in a helpful voice. He placed his thumbs on either side of Loki's tender nose and clicked it unceremoniously back into place. Loki howled with pain and bowed his head to his chest as soon as Karson let go of his face.

"You can't _do_ this!" Loki shouted, looking up to stare into Karson's face. There was a raw and untamed anger in his green eyes and his face was contorted with rage.

"Can't I?" Karson said, feigning shock. He swiftly landed a punch on Loki's mouth, splitting his lip.

Loki did not shout, not wanting to give Karson the satisfaction, instead licking his lips so he could taste the blood from a cut his tooth had made on the inside of his mouth. He spat out a mouthful of the stuff which landed in a sticky, red pool on Karson's immaculately polished shoes. When Loki grinned up at Karson, there was blood on his teeth and he looked undeniably disturbed, almost insane. Shock ghosted over Karson's face but he was a master at disguising his emotions.

"There is it," Karson muttered but before Loki could ask what 'it' was, Karson signalled to a guard outside the cell and the restraints on Loki's wrists and ankles suddenly snapped open and he was free.

Karson took a step back, leaving room for Loki to rise from his chair. He wasted no time in doing so, but he was unsteady on his feet from the combination of cramped joints and the dull throbbing of the imbedded chip. Loki tried to match Karson's upright, confident gait although his knees trembled with the exertion of trying to look so strong when he felt so weak.

Karson slowly reached inside his jacket and pulled out a razor-sharp, sleek and deadly knife. Loki's eyes almost rolled back in his head from the shock and immediate icy terror of the blade; he was remembering with terrible and precise clarity how it felt when one of the Tiphus stabbed him in the back. He stumbled unthinkingly to the furthest point of his cell, pressing himself against the glass wall and shutting his eyes, muttering prayers or pleas to anyone that could hear him.

Karson approached ominously until he was a foot away from Loki. He grabbed one of Loki's unresponsive wrists and forced his hand open before placing the handle of the knife into Loki's palm and making him close his fingers over it. He took a step back as Loki opened his eyes tentatively and closed his hand in a tighter grip over the knife. His face was a picture of bewilderment; what new game was this?

"I imagine that you would like to hurt me. Wouldn't you, Loki?" Karson said, not so much accusingly as suggestively. "You'd like to take that knife and plunge it into my heart."

Loki stood staring, open mouthed, but the knife came up in his hand until he was raising it aggressively.

"You could stand over me and watch as I lay on the floor, bleeding to death. You could laugh as the life left my eyes," Karson said delicately.

Loki took a small step forward and his mouth set in a hard line. He listened to Karson's words and imagined them becoming reality. His hand was shaking slightly but he forced himself to steady it and aim the knife pointedly.

"Go on," Karson whispered encouragingly.

Loki made the snap decision in his head and lunged forward with the knife, intent on burying it hilt-deep into Karson's chest. He didn't expect a counter attack.

Loki had moved quickly but Karson was quicker, grabbing the hand in which Loki held the knife and twisting it harshly. Loki yelped in pain and the knife fell from his in incapacitated hand as Karson further rendered him helpless by painfully twisting his arm behind his back and shoving him against the wall.

"I knew you'd snap," Karson breathed into Loki's ear as he tried to squirm out of Karson's vice-like grip.

Karson pulled Loki away from the wall, keeping Loki firmly in his grip, before frogmarching him out of the cell and down the corridor. Loki kept up as best he could, stumbling awkwardly as he was pushed by Karson through the maze of identical and confusing passages. If there wasn't a parasitical chip interrupting his brainwaves, he would easily be strong enough to wrench himself from Karson's grip and escape, but as it was, all he could do was let himself be directed.

"Where are you taking me?" Loki grunted, but Karson said nothing.

They pair eventually reached a large and grey tombstone of a door. Karson punched some numbers into a keypad on the wall and used some kind of face-recognition system to open the door. The room they entered was fairly large and metallic, huge florescent lights casting the room in a harsh, glaring glow. There was a chair in the centre of the room, just a plain wooden one, and a large surgical table. It was a daunting and foreboding sight; it was also Loki's new cell.

Karson forced Loki to bend over the table and cuffed his hands behind him. Loki did not resist, he didn't have the energy nor the spirit; he felt overwhelmingly nauseous at the thought of what had just happened. There was no doubt about it, Loki would have killed Karson right there without a thought. He felt as if everything he had been trying to achieve had just crumbled like ruins. Loki had so strongly wanted to improve his ways and leave behind his violent tendencies but it seemed he had no will-power. He thought about Agent Coulson; he had very almost just done the same to Karson in spite of all the guilt and regret he felt about talking Coulson's life. Karson was a malicious, sadistic individual, Loki was in no doubt about that, but he had no right to try and take the man's life, no matter what he had done.

Loki allowed Karson to spin him round so he was face to face with the smirking agent.

"I'm sorry," Loki said miserably, wilting against the edge of the table.

"Oh, you're sorry? You're a murderer," Karson said spitefully, before slapping Loki lightly and grabbing his face in a degrading manner, "aren't you? Nothing but a murderer. Lie on the table."

Loki had no inclination to resist or fight back so he manoeuvred himself onto the table with great difficulty. He laid back on the cool, smooth surface, and his arms began aching from the weight he was putting on his cuffed hands.

"Good boy," Karson muttered in the tone one would use when talking to a dog. If his aim was to humiliate Loki, he was doing it perfectly.

Karson walked down to the end of the table and reached beneath it to retrieve some ankle cuffs before putting them on Loki's feet. Loki didn't even look to see what was happening; he merely stared up at the ceiling, lost in his own introspection. Karson sauntered over to where Loki's head was resting and held up the same grey roll he had used the before. He tore off a strip and lowered it to Loki's mouth, causing Loki to thrash about on the table.

"No, keep that away from me! Don't! No, no –" Loki shouted, twisting his head to protect it from Karson's advances but his cries were silenced when Karson succeeded in smoothing the gagging strip over his lips.

Loki continued to make small, pleading noises of protest as Karson sneered down at him, still handling the roll of tape, tearing a much smaller piece off.

"Hold still," Karson said simperingly, as he quickly smacked the smaller square of tape over one of Loki's eyes. In his shock, Loki just managed to shut his eye before the sticky tape was pressed over it and he immediately started panicking as he was rendered half-blind. The suffocating horror of the forced blindness struck a deep and primal kind of terror in Loki's soul and he thought he was having a panic attack as he lay down on the table. When Karson stuck the second piece of tape over Loki's other eye, plunging him into absolute darkness, he screamed for all he was worth.

He could not move or see or speak. He didn't know if Karson was still in the room with him and he suspected that if he continued to wriggle around on the table he might fall off it and, unable to break his fall, damage one of his cuffed limbs. He stilled himself and breathed deeply through his nose. Loki jumped a little when he felt a hand close over his throat, holding him down gently. Karson's voice filled the air, as well as a very quiet, distant-sounding second voice that seemed to be in conversation with Karson.

"Fury? Yes, I am with him now. Listen, I had to transfer him to a different cell. Yes. Yes, he tried to attack me. I let him out of the chair for a little bit, he seemed to be uncomfortable… Well, I know, yes, you give them an inch… No, I'm fine but I decided it would be best to put him somewhere with better security. Block 3H. Yep, he won't be harming anyone else now. OK. Yep. Yes. I'll be there shortly," Karson ended the conversation and Loki strained his ears in the silence.

The hand released Loki's throat and he heard a quiet chuckle and then footsteps that became more and more quiet. He heard the heavy sounds of pistons opening a steely door and then there was nothing. Loki was left isolated and terrified in his cell. He would have given anything to hear a familiar voice as he lay alone in the haunting darkness.

* * *

Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner marched with intense purpose into the headquarters of S.H.I.E.L.D. None of them were wearing their superhero guises (in Bruce's case, it would have been an entirely different kind of visit if he had 'Hulked' up, as Tony pointed out) but they were allowed past many of the security checkpoints purely for the merit they had as the Avengers. Tony led the other two to where he knew Loki was being held.

When they reached an empty cell with an empty chair, Tony was speechless and Steve was exasperated.

"Oh, come one, Stark. What is this?" Steve asked, slamming his hand down on the control panel next to the glass cell.

"I– I don't know! I swear to you he was here yesterday!" Tony cried, incredulously.

Bruce hadn't spoken; he had merely gone inside the empty cell, making mental notes of the discrepancies he observed. The door of the cell was open, implying it _had_ been used. There was a lone knife lying on the far side of the small cell – not a good sign. There were two separate spots of blood in the cell; a small, dried trickle on the back of the chair, most probably from the implanting of the chip in Loki's neck, and a small puddle of blood on the floor, slightly molded around what could have been a shoeprint.

"Steve, relax. Loki was definitely here. He's obviously been moved. There's blood in here..." Bruce said evenly, ever the rational presence of the group.

Tony, Steve and Bruce discussed the possibilities in not-so great detail; they were all equally frustrated that their plan, which they had been so braced for, had been very suddenly and unsatisfactorily terminated.

They all jumped in shock when they heard a voice behind them.

"Gentlemen."

It was Agent Karson.

"Where's Loki?" Tony demanded quickly.

"Loki?" Karson repeated, simulating confusion and tilting his head slightly.

"You know; black hair, Casper-pale, flamboyant green cape," Tony said, flustered. He was in no mood to be messed about.

"Where is he, Karson?" Steve said loudly, unable to contain his irritation.

"I'm not sure I know what you're talking about, my friends," Karson said insincerely. He had a slimy, untrustworthy demeanour that the three Avengers found left a bad taste in their mouths.

"Where's Fury? We need to talk to him," Tony said shortly; if this bastard wasn't going to cooperate, they might as well bypass the goon and head straight to the top.

"He's not available. If you have any questions, you can direct them to me," Karson said, a smirk playing in his eyes.

Bruce sensed they were going to get nothing from this deceptive and game-playing new agent and he persuaded his friends to leave, reasoning that they would just have to try something else.

They had no idea that the God they sought was only down a series of corridors, behind a large grey door, lying on a cold, hard table, praying for rescue.

They also had no idea that when they later reconvened at Stark Towers to form a new plan, a certain blond God would be waiting for them, having just been transported from his own world, drinking an ice-cold beer and demanding to know where his brother was.


	15. Chapter 15

"Well, I say we march into S.H.I.E.L.D this very night and demand to know where they are holding him!" Thor stormed, ignoring the plate of food Pepper had graciously prepared for the guests currently inhabiting Stark Towers.

"It's not that simple," Tony said, massaging him temple. He, along with Steve and Bruce, had returned to Stark Towers in a foul mood after their botched rescue attempt and Thor's current belligerent attitude only added to their stress.

"Why not?" Thor demanded angrily.

"I know you don't have the same values as us, but S.H.I.E.L.D is an indescribably powerful institution. If we saunter over there and start _demanding_ things, they might not be so inclined to help us," Bruce said in a tired voice. It was getting late and they were getting nowhere with their plans.

"You saw him, Stark – what was his condition?" Thor asked once more. He was deeply and frantically concerned to hear about his brother and kept asking slightly differently-worded questions about Loki.

"He was OK," Tony said reluctantly, not wanting to go into too much detail about how he had found Loki for fear that it would only incense Thor further and a raging God would be no use when formulating a plan of tactics.

"But you don't need to worry too much, Thor. S.H.I.E.L.D might have a grudge against Loki but they're not criminals. Fury wouldn't allow any unreasonable treatment of a prisoner of war," Steve said level-headedly.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he shared anxious glances with Bruce and Tony; none of them trusted the new Agent Karson and felt unsettled by his aloof and rather emotionless pretence. In truth, none of them expected him to be a fair man and this did not bode well for Loki.

* * *

Loki woke up on his side, disorientated and scared. His left arm was causing him tremendous pain and he couldn't seem to move it. The excruciating pain was making him feel panicky and sick and the pieces of tape on his face were preventing him from gathering his bearings. All he could do was lie there in agony and wait.

Eventually he heard the door open and footsteps approaching. He started calling through his gag, desperately trying to convey his need for attention; he didn't even care that his visitor was most likely the cruel Karson, he just wanted someone to help. The tape was ripped from his eyes and mouth in quick succession. Loki looked around and realised he was lying on the floor next to the table; he must have fallen off in the night and damaged his arm.

"Gaah, my arm! Please, I think it's broken!" Loki gasped as soon as he was able to. His wide eyes stared up at Karson's impassive face.

Karson roughly grabbed his left elbow and gave it a small tug. Loki threw his head back and howled with pain as fiery jolts flew up and down his aching arm.

"It's not broken. It's dislocated," Karson announced simply. "I'm going to need to pop it back in."

His words did not prepare Loki for the pain as Karson sharply jerked Loki's whole left arm up. There was an abrupt pop and a wave of unbearable pain coursed through Loki's body and immediately afterwards, there was no pain at all. Loki panted, feeling utterly drained but strangely grateful to Karson.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. Karson didn't even give a small nod of acknowledgement. He had brought in a clear bottle of water and he unscrewed the lid.

"Want a drink?" Karson asked Loki conversationally.

"Please," Loki said, almost smiling; perhaps Karson was changing his approach to Loki?

Loki's face fell as Karson took a long swig of the water, offering Loki none. Loki's throat burned with thirst as he watched the level of cool liquid in the bottle get lower and lower.

"How much do you want a drink?" Karson asked, wiping his mouth.

"Please, I'm very thirsty…" Loki tried to sound reasonable and logical, hoping that Karson would respond to rationality.

"Before I give you a drink, I want you to tell me that you have an uncontrollable desire to kill people," Karson said slowly, his eyes boring into Loki's.

"Excuse me?" Loki said incredulously.

"You heard me. Do this and I'll give you a drink," Karson said, challenging Loki.

"I- I –no! I won't do that," Loki said, shaking his head and trying to ignore the voice in his head that was ordering Loki to do as he was told.

"You need to drink at some point, Loki. They're only words," Karson coaxed gently.

He could feel the words forming in his mouth, but he didn't want to give Karson the satisfaction of hearing them spoken out loud. Loki stiffly shook his head.

"I see," Karson said, his voice filled with something Loki couldn't identify. It seemed like Karson had triumphed somehow. "I will remove your handcuffs and take you to a cell with a bed if you tell me that you don't regret killing all those humans."

Loki felt his scruples waver; a cell with a bed and no handcuffs was such a tantalising offer and they were only words, after all…

"I don't regret killing those people," Loki repeated, his barely-audible voice devoid of emotion and his eyes downcast with shame.

"Louder," Karson commanded.

Loki repeated himself, raising his voice and giving it more strength.

Karson suddenly held up a communication device to his mouth,

"Did you get that, Fury?" he said into the microphone, smiling like a shark at Loki.

Loki felt the blood drain from his face; Karson must have turned the device on just before Loki had spoken the condemning words.

"Jesus. OK, Karson, I can see the problem now. Take care of it, I won't bother stopping by. You've got this under control?" Fury's voice came from the speaker on Karson's device.

"Yes, Fury. It's all under control," Karson said, an eerie smile still present on his lips as he clicked off the device.

"Why would you do that?" Loki said incredulously.

"To show you what happens when you _threaten_ people," Karson explained in a slow and calm voice, as if he were explaining the concept to a child.

"I only said that because you promised me an ounce of freedom! I didn't mean it!" Loki fought not to shout at the devious man.

"If you can say it, you can do it. I'm going to help you, Loki. I can condition you into never wanting to harm another human being again," Karson continued.

Loki stared at Karson, appalled. He couldn't be serious…

"I am not a _lab rat_. You can't train me. I don't need your help," Loki growled. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so utterly irate; or at least, he couldn't remember the last time he had let himself express his anger so freely.

"Oh, I think you'll find I can do anything I want," Karson said arrogantly, before adding, "lab rat."

Loki suddenly propelled himself forward, as best he could with his hands shackled behind his back, and Karson actually recoiled in the face of such raw, aggressive force.

"One day, maybe not by my hand and maybe no time soon, but inevitably, one day you shall suffer a slow and painful death," Loki hissed, his eyes wild and unwavering in their wrath. "Someone out there will make sure you are in agonising pain as you take your last breath and they will laugh as you are thrown into the darkest depths of hell."

Karson blinked stupidly, struck dumb by Loki's speech. He suddenly clambered to his feet, his cool façade shattered.

Loki smiled inwardly; he may be a weakened God but a God he still remained and Karson must have gotten a glimpse of Loki's great and terrible power when he looked into his deep, green eyes.

Loki was kneeling on the ground but he still felt ten feet tall as Karson tried to walk with dignity from the cell. It was a small victory, but as Loki lay himself down on his side, his stomach growling at him stubbornly, he couldn't help but think that Thor and Odin would be proud of his display of awesome power in the face of such an extreme adversary. Loki drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

Elsewhere in the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, Agent Karson told himself that Loki would need to be more severely punished if he ever wanted a chance of being a well-integrated member of society. He would need to be _taught _some manners and Karson knew he was the only man for the job…


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Sorry for the time between the last update and this one! Thanks for the reviews and such and enjoy this next chapter…**

**I AM SO SORRY for the chapter cock up, I think I was in a rush to upload... Take this juicy slice of Loki-torment as a peace offering, Lovely Readers xx**

* * *

"Do you want to hurt me, Loki?"

Karson stood over Loki's feeble body, a detestable device in his hands, inches from Loki's exposed chest. Loki shook his head expressively, his eyes pleading with the man who was torturing him. Karson had begun the interrogation by securing Loki to the table, adding strong plastic straps to hold his bound wrists and ankles to the cold surface and smoothing a strip of tape over Loki's mouth. He had informed his prisoner that he needed only to nod or shake his head to answer; speaking would not be necessary.

"You're lying!" Karson exclaimed and ruthlessly jabbed Loki's chest with the sparking Taser he was clutching. Loki's whole body jerked in pain but he let no sounds of his pain escape him. It was the one thing he could control and no part of him was willing to give Karson the satisfaction of hearing him squeak with pain. "Do you want to hurt me, or any other humans?"

Loki closed his eyes and shook his head once more, and once more he was shocked with the Taser.

This torture had only been going for twenty minutes and Loki already felt drained and completely hopeless; every answer he gave warranted a shock and he was sickened by Karson's cruel method and his apparent lack of compassion. One of the only things keeping Loki from giving up entirely was remembering his time with the Tiphus. He knew that if he could survive that, this would be a veritable stroll in the park in comparison.

"You are only hurting yourself, Loki. Tell me what drives you to want to kill humans," Karson instructed, nonchalantly turning up the voltage of the Taser.

Loki let out a small sigh and shook his head. He obviously couldn't answer and Karson was perfectly aware of this fact, so Loki just closed his eyes and waited.

"That's not a proper answer. You know what happens when you answer wrongly…" Karson said with faux-sympathy, his eyes betraying the pleasure he seemed to be taking from this unjust game he was playing.

Both Loki and Karson looked up in surprise as they heard the complicated mechanisms of the cell door opening. They stared in anticipation (and in Karson's case, guilt) as they waited to see who was about to enter. When the door was fully open, two people came striding confidently into the room.

There was a short but strong redhead and an equally small but clearly muscular man with short brown hair. They wore near-identical black t-shirts and trousers and they walked with a clear and focused gait.

Loki blinked in disbelief as he took in the sight of his two former-enemies in the room he had come to associate with pain and isolation. Natasha Romanova appeared just as sober and fiercely intelligent as Loki remembered but Clint Barton seemed to continue to regard Loki with mistrust. Loki couldn't blame him, after what he had done to him.

"Agent Karson," Natasha said sternly, her eyes briefly flickering over Karson's face before settling on Loki's rather pitiful form. "My name is Natasha Romanoff and this is Clint Barton."

"Charmed," Karson said wryly as he moved round slightly to block Loki from the two assassin's gaze. "How did you get in here?"

"After all we've done for Fury, he owed us," Clint said caustically. He didn't like this situation one bit; a seemingly untrustworthy new agent and a _very_ untrustworthy god-cum-super villain.

"Fury said he hadn't checked on Loki for a few days so we would be doing him a favour. You should know that we hold a lot of sway at S.H.I.E.L.D, Agent Karson," Natasha said, her eyes hard and uncompromising as she stared at the blonde agent.

"Well, thank you for your concern, but your presence is not necessary. I am conducting this interrogation and I'm afraid I don't need any outside help," Karson said coldly, trying to match Natasha and Clint's passive power-play.

"Interrogation?" Clint asked sarcastically as he and Natasha leant round Karson's obstructive figure to look at Loki and the gag on his mouth.

"Hear any interesting answers yet?" Natasha asked as Karson regarded her with contempt. It was clear to see from his expression that he thought these two intruders were ruining his plan.

"I haven't started yet," Karson lied evenly.

"Those Taser marks on his chest… you just testing the equipment?" Clint asked, one eyebrow raised sceptically.

"Yes," Karson said through gritted teeth.

Loki lay on the table, feeling the growing tension in the room and the restlessness he felt at having two people who would potentially rescue him from this place overwhelmed him and he let out a small muffled cry, straining against his bonds.

The sound of such a throaty and desperate plea and chains clinking against cold metal made Natasha react immediately; she swiftly moved around Karson and stood on the other side of the table next to Loki. He held her gaze and widened his eyes meaningfully. Natasha ripped the tape from his mouth and Loki gasped and coughed as he drew in much-needed gulps of air.

"Thank you, Miss Romanova," he panted, truly meaning it.

"Loki," Natasha said in a voice that was stern but at least had an ounce of recognition and familiarity," Are you OK?"

Loki stole a glance at Karson who was standing opposite Natasha and glaring hatefully. For a moment, Loki could have sworn he saw a flash of something alien in Karson's eyes, but it must just have been his extreme annoyance at the interruption.

Loki said nothing but he looked into Natasha's eyes and tried to convey his despair in silence, so as to not anger Karson further.

Clint was standing slightly behind Karson with his arms folded as if he was guarding the tall agent and making sure he didn't make any sudden moves. Though he was a fair bit shorter, Clint was a powerful presence in the stifling closeness of the cell.

"What exactly are you trying to find out from him?" Clint asked.

"I'm trying to find out the true nature of his visit; I believe he means to make another attack on our planet," Karson said, completely stony-faced.

"That's a lie!" Loki blurted out from the table, causing Natasha and Clint to look at him in astonishment. Karson however turned his dark and menacing glare on Loki and he flinched under the sheer threat of the look.

"You are in no position to accuse _others_ of lying," Karson spoke softly but everyone in the room felt a chill go through them.

Natasha thought back to Tony's story of Loki arriving in Stark Towers in Thor's arms, bloodied and broken. She had scarcely believed that Loki could have been in quite a state but now she saw the look of desperation in his eyes and she started to feel overwhelming care for the good she had previously detested. He had been so arrogant and hostile; the incident when she had spoken to him in the glass cell and he had said some truly despicable things to her stuck in Natasha's mind, but now the wariness was mingling with a powerful sense of duty. She had to – _needed_ to – help him.

Natasha glanced at Clint and tried to convey her feelings through their unspoken bond and she saw it in his eyes too; he had perhaps hated Loki the most, but even he couldn't deny the appalling treatment of Loki under Karson's duress.

"Keys," Natasha almost barked. Karson looked blankly at her," for the cuffs?"

"Not possible," Karson said without hesitation.

"Give her the keys," Clint said in a quiet and low voice behind Karson.

"No. You have no authority in this case," Karson spun round to glare disdainfully down at Clint.

"We've been at S.H.I.E.L.D a hell of a lot longer than you, Karson. It's no matter of 'authority in this case'," Natasha said scathingly.

"If you have a problem, take it up with Fury," Karson said calmly enough, but he pulled back the fold of his blazer to reveal the gun-holding holster that sat beneath it.

Natasha and Clint both scoffed at the threat.

"You think that would stop us?" Clint asked, chuckling. He knew that he and Natasha would be able to take Karson down before he had the chance to even brush the gun with the tips of his fingers.

"I think that you know that you could face imprisonment if you attacked me," Karson said gently and he knew he had them stuck.

Clint and Natasha knew it too; Fury would not be so helpful towards them if they attempted to kill one if his agents.

"Fine. You'll be hearing from us soon, Karson," Natasha said in an annoyed and clipped voice.

"All of us," Clint added, implying the powerful threat of a team of superheroes.

"Oh, I look forward to it," Karson replied with a shark-like smile.

As Loki lay on the table looking up at the whole exchange, his mouth was frozen and he couldn't force his tongue to form the words.

_Help me, get me out of this place, don't leave me with him._

He lay paralysed as his saviours looked at him meaningfully, comfortingly, and then proceeded to leave the cell. Karson saw them out imposingly, only returning to Loki once they were alone once more.

"That was a pleasant surprise, wasn't it?" Karson asked delicately. The Taser he held in his hand somewhat contradicted his words. "They may think you are some damaged soul that can be saved but I know what you truly are, Loki. Shall we continue?"

Loki allowed a guttural groan of dread to escape his throat; it was all he could do not to start crying or screaming at the man standing above him. Anger and annoyance and sorrow bubbled up inside him, rendering his speech completely ineffective. There was too much inside Loki for him to even begin to express. Despite his inner turmoil he clung to the hope that Natasha and Clint would return for him, bringing the rest of the Avengers with them… perhaps Thor would even be there…

"Do you want to hurt me, Loki?"

"Yes," Loki spat, his voice filled with hatred.

"Good," Karson purred, retracting the Taser slightly. "That wasn't a lie. It was, however the _wrong_ answer."

Loki thrashed and cursed as Karson Tasered him once more.

* * *

"Fury, we need to talk," It was more of a command than a suggestion.

"Black Widow, Hawkeye, how was Karson getting on with the prisoner?" Fury was sitting in a large black, leather chair pouring over documents that were probably highly important. Not that Natasha cared about that.

"You need to remove Karson from Loki's case. His methods seemed far less-than-necessary," Natasha stated, trying to appear calm and resolute though she was deeply disturbed by the look Loki had given her when they left the cell. He was _begging_ to be rescued.

"I don't understand. Karson has been a fantastic resource of S.H.I.E.L.D's since Agent Coulson's demise," Fury said sombrely. Natasha wondered if perhaps he was biased towards hating Loki after he had murdered Coulson. Maybe he was in on the 'interrogation'?

"Well, he is not so dandy when it comes to interrogations, it seems," Clint piped up.

"Are you sticking up for Loki?" Fury smiled, obviously amused. "After what he did to you? After he _violated_ your mind?"

"My personal feelings towards Loki aren't the issue here. He is in S.H.I.E.L.D's custody and it seems like he's being unfairly treated. That's all there is to it," Clint replied coolly, showing the highly even-handed workings of his mind.

"Alright," Fury said sighing, holding his hands up in mock-surrender. "Alright, if it's so important to you, I'll check on Loki myself. If I'm not happy with how he's being treated, I'll remove him from Karson's guard."

Natasha permitted herself a small smile and Clint nodded respectfully. They left Fury's office satisfied with the progress they had made and made their way to Stark Towers to report on their mission to their cohorts.

* * *

Karson and Fury stood in Loki's cell, regarding him as he slept. He was curled up on the floor, two sets of cuffs still binding his bruised wrists and ankles; he tossed and turned, moaning slightly in his disturbed sleep.

"What are we going to do about them interfering?" Karson asked quietly.

"We will have to call upon the _higher_ authority," Fury replied in an equally soft tone.

They spoke quietly so Loki would not wake up. If he awoke to see them there, he might catch a glimpse of their eyes.

Their eyes which now glowed purple in the darkness of the cell.

If Loki saw their eyes he might realise what was going on; he might recognise the effects of the mind control that was currently smothering their minds.


	17. Not a chapter

**THIS ISN'T AN ACTUAL CHAPTER**

**..but I wasn't sure if a new chapter alert was sent out – Chapter 16 is now up and the actual **_**correct**_** chapter.**

**Not sure what happened, whether it was my fault or some sort of crappy glitch, but either way enjoy Chapter 16!**


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